In Close Quarters
by tea-induced scribbles
Summary: A series of unfortunate events and an I.O.U. got Kate a ticket on the Nathan James. With Commander Mike Slattery as the XO, it's definitely the last place she wanted be. But she told herself it would be four months... How hard could it be? (working summary) This is an AUish OC story with M rating for coarse language, violence, and some future naughtiness :-)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is my first story so just some disclaimers... I do not own anything but my OC characters. The rest is owned by people with more money than I shall ever have. Also all my information regarding medical, military and helicopter stuff in this story is derived from either the internet or my over active imagination... So realise that at least 89% all of it is incorrect or physically impossible. Also the timeline will be a skewed from the show's all I ask for the sake of the story that you let it slide and be kind to me.. :-D_

_Please Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"Yeah well, I hate you with every fibre of my being right now" Kate said on her company owned iphone to her brother in law and current boss for the past year. She pulled her rucksack out of the back of the Jeep and slung it over her shoulder.

"Thank you for the escort" Kate said to the soldier as Evan continued to talk to her. The soldier gave a nod and drove away. Kate turned her attention the large ship in dock and listening to her Evan talk with glee as he enjoyed her misery. He acted like the big brother she never wanted but was glad to have ever since her husband Jack had died in a tragic motorcycle accident a year and half ago.

Kate had served her country faithfully for 12 years as Helicopter Pilot in the Australian Defence Force before she decided to retire 3 years ago and get married to Jack. Do the whole nine yards of a house, the white picket fence and 2 kids with the dog etc but a year into it and well Jack died and so did the dream. Kate had been a wreck and Evan did what he did best take over and make everything happen.

It was his gift, it's how he owned and ran a hugely successful industrial company that developed… well Kate had no clue nor did she try to understand. The man just had too much money and enjoyed the fact that he fooled her into signing a contract to work with him based on an I.O.U. she wrote while drunk 3 years ago when he managed to single handedly saved her wedding from disaster.

A year after Jack's death, Evan had wanted her to get a green card and step into Jack's shoes at the company but she refused. So he turned into a cold hearted asshole (or so she interpreted his actions) and blindly signed an iron clad 3 year contract without reading it because she just wanted to be left alone. In hindsight it was one of the best things he had ever done for her. It got her into the private sector working as a civilian contractor for the Military. She was able to fly Helicopters again and she was working which helped her move forward. The downside was Evan treated her more like a little sister than an employee which meant he meddled in life and forever reminded her how simple it had been to coerce her into working for him with an I.O.U., he had the thing framed and on his desk while she had a photocopy of it folded up in her wallet.

_"Ah you love me and I don't see why you keep complaining about being on ships especially when you get to fly_" Evan said, she could hear his smug grin over the phone. The man owned a multimillion dollar corporation where his time was about a few grand a minute... he told her the number once and it sounded obscene and here he was wasting his time and money yabbering at her.

"You're not giving me this gig. The pilot that was supposed to do the job got hit by a car. I'm your back up" Kate grumbled, she had the photocopy of yellow post it note I.O.U. in her wallet to remind herself not to be fooled like that again. Phillip Chen was supposed to be on this project but he had been hit by a car J-walking yesterday and was not fit to fly hence why Kate was stepping in for the guy.

_"Did I mention there's huge bonus in it for you when you're finished? It's only fair because you're saving me from paying huge penalties for being late-"_

"You know I hate ships, I hate sailing, you knew this because I told you when I signed the contract. I don't do ships or anything that floats on water" she said into the phone. Yet he had his assistant send over a bag with Jacket and thermals for subzero temperatures. All in her size, it was just creepy that his assistant knew her dress size.

It came with a note saying 'Good Luck in the Arctic'. Sometimes she felt like she was just the part of his life that he could just stir and mess around with for his amusement. She had immediately called him that night when he informed her he was taking her off her current project and sending her to finish up another to substitute for another Pilot on a time critical project.

_"You should have asked for an addendum to have been made before you signed on. Oh yeah you didn't read the contract, you just signed it"_ he chuckled "_Anyway sailing is much like flying but on the water. Just think of every roll and dump as turbulence"_ Evan said, the bastard was enjoying her being uncomfortable.

"It's a destroyer not a Yacht" Kate told him as she looked at the destroyer, people were coming going from the areas it was getting ready to leave port in less than an hour. She frowned as a voice shouted nearby, that sounded achingly familiar. She lowered her aviators and looked to the gangway to the ship to see Mike Slattery in dress whites shouting orders. She quickly turned her back to the gangway as if it would make her invisible.

"This is the Nathan James" Kate stated, it was like some cosmic joke that she had to endured 4 months trapped on a ship with Mike Slattery. The only other man she'd known who she had ever loved enough to change her life for besides Jack. Like she needed a painful reminder of someone else she lost and he was alive which didn't make her very happy right now.

_"Yes, that is the ship we just finished retrofitting and is scheduled to leave at 1pm, your time. I told you the name last night when you called me to tell me that you hated the colour green and to stop buying you clothes. You're the only woman I know who complains about getting free things"_ Evan said casually.

"No you didn't, I would have remembered and we've talked about this before it's creepy when you buy me clothes" Kate said, she definitely would have considered leaving but knew she owed Evan and it was four months.

"Yes, I told you it was the Nathan James and don't flatter yourself, I'd never go shopping for you that's what I have an assistant for. Now get on the Destroyer, enjoy your trip, I want daily log and I'll speak to you in four months" Evan told her before she could even argue with him the man hung up on her. Kate gritted her teeth and even though she was sorely tempted to through the iPhone in the water, she didn't and put in her back pocket.

She took a deep breath and walked to the man with the clipboard who had just let a group of marines and a dog through. When she got closer she saw he was the Master Chief. He was strong looking, confident and tall African American man who gave her a cool and analytical once over before he spoke.

"Are you lost Ma'am?" He asked in a polite yet curt manner.

"No, I'm Cap-" Kate stopped to corrected herself. She was still getting used to not saying her rank. Being a retired from the military was not an easy adjustment after 10 years of service. "I'm Kathryn Lassiter, civilian contractor for the Lassiter Industries. I'm subbing for Phillip Chen" she said as she pulled her ID out of her jacket pocket of her burgundy leather bomber jacket and held it out to him. The Master Chief too the I.D. and scrutinized it for a moment before he through his clipboard.

"Kathyrn Lassiter" he said ticking her name off the list and holding out her ID to her. Kate frowned as she was supposed to be a last minute change. She was expecting a problem with getting on board. She took back her ID. He looked up from the clip board to her.

"Welcome aboard the Nathan James, your quarters are-" he told her the location of where she would be sleeping and Kate nodded. "Will you require assistance to your quarters?" he asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you Master Chief" She said, the man gave her a nod before stepping to side to let her pass. She took a deep breath and walked towards the gang way.

* * *

"I'm not too happy about this Rep we're going to be babysitting in addition to Dr Scott and Dr Tophet" Lt Commander Mike Slattery said, he couldn't wait to get out for the next four months to go by so he could get back to his family and try to fix things with Christina. Give her what she wanted which was his presence apparently which was confusing because when he was away she would complain he wasn't there and when he was home it was that he wasn't 'here'. He wasn't sure what that meant as he was there literally. He came home and he spent as much time as he could with her and the kids bit it never seemed to be enough.

So when they docked a few weeks ago, he was expecting at least 4 months on dry land at least while the ship's weaponry systems got upgraded. He was looking forward and had been enjoying the dedicated family time, time spent with his kids. He didn't enjoy Christina's attitude or the fights she was picking with him but he took the good with the bad and when Tom called him to inform him they had been recalled to duty. Well, shit hit the fan with Christina.

He knew there would be some catch to getting top of the line weaponry systems installed into the Nathan James but this one seemed rather left of field as Mike didn't know why a simple weapons test couldn't wait a little longer. But apparently it couldn't and as it was becoming habit, Mike had to leave things unfinished and mess with Christina. He hated leaving things rocky between them, he hated leaving in the middle of an argument but Christina like he was stubborn to the bone. He had wanted to leave on a good note with her but failed miserably. The only consolation was that he got to spend time with his kids. The one highlight of his shore leave was catching up with them.

Instead they had been called back to duty a week early which had only put further strain on the home situation. So right now, hearing that the Nathan James was going to have some useless twit who sit in CIC staring dumb at the screen watching them blow up decoys made him feel just added fuel to his bad mood.

"I know but-" Captain Tom Chandler started to tell Mike about the rep would be on board for 4 months and to play nice because Mike didn't have a lot patience for civilian contractors. "Come in" Tom said. The door swung open and the woman Tom wanted to warn Mike about came into the room.

Mike turned and looked at her in shock. Kathryn 'Kate' Gentry the last woman he had ever wanted to see again was standing at the door to the Captain's office. It had been 4 years, 35 days and 18 hours since he last saw her and for someone like him to know that, to be counting that number in his head made him angry. He was married, had three kids he loved to the very core of his being. Yet this woman had gotten herself so thoroughly under his skin it drove him mad because he wanted and tried to forget her on and off for years without success and here she was. Physically here on the Nathan James, it was just making his day that more crappier than it was before.

She was nearly as he remembered her as he looked her over. She stood 5 ft 8, wore black skinny jeans, scuffed up black combat boots with a white pocket t-shirt and a burgundy leather motorcycle jacket. Her red hair was messily swept back into a low bun though she looked skinnier and more fried than he remembered. He vainly tried to squash the concern he was feeling for her welfare but failed miserably so went for the next best tactic to take.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Mike demanded, the best tactic was to be an asshole so she would know she wasn't welcome. Even though he wanted to ask what was wrong with her. If he kept her at arm's length, if he didn't get to know her again then he could pretend that chapter of his life was completely closed and forget about it.

"Gee it's great to see you too Mike." Kate said in a mocking yet friendly manner as she closed the door to the office behind her. If they were going to shout at her then it would be behind closed doors. She gave them a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"We're supposed to have a Kathryn Lassiter on board" Mike said looking to Tom who gave him a look that said he had no idea. It was bad form for them not to know who was coming and going on their ship.

"Obviously I got married" Kate told them, it stung Mike to hear she settled down but when he looked to her left hand he saw the ring. He mentally slapped himself for not noticing it. "Would you like to see my I.D.?" She asked them in dry tone. She didn't seem to be too happy in seeing them either.

"No, I'm sure the Master Chief checked you in and that's good enough for me" Tom said feeling the awkward tension in the room. Kate visibly relaxed at his acceptance of her identity. "I have to say this is a surprise. I thought you were still serving in the ADF" he said using the acronym for Australian Defence Forces.

"I retired and Evan Harris gave me an offer I couldn't refuse" Kate said casually as it was the truth.

"Good for you, though I don't know why you're here" Mike said, he wondered if she heard he was the XO and was here to just make the one place in his life turn to hell but then again after three years of no contact it seemed odd. Kate pursed her lips for a moment as if choosing her words carefully before she spoke.

"I'm here because Lassiter Industries holds a multimillion dollar contract with your government and the Navy to service and upgrade the fleet. Part of that contract is that the company I work for is legally obligated to have a representative on board for a period of 120 days to observe that all requirements of the contract have been met i.e. the upgrades are functioning at optimal standards. We also have to fulfil said requirements to your schedule not ours. Hence why I am here and not in Maui collecting freckles and Mai Tais" Kate said annoyed at Mike's less than stellar attitude. If the less the warm welcome was anything to go by, the next four months were not going to fun.

"So you're going to stand around, look pretty-" Mike started and Kate wondered why he was being such an asshole.

"That I can do naturally but no, I will be a somewhat productive member of the crew" Kate said in a droll tone.

"Kate is also our Helo Pilot" Tom said as he knew Mike was picking a fight with Kate for what reason he didn't know. He really hoped he wouldn't have to spend the next four months diffusing the two before it got messy. Hell he was just an observer and he felt like he had stepped in it.

"Look the Navy believes that everyone on the ship should serve a purpose. The Navy gave Lassiter group a special dispensation for our company pilots to fly considering it's not the Helo that has to jump through the hoops. Don't worry I've been informed that my duties will be to ferry Dr Scott and her colleague around and also engaging in training exercises with your crew. Its 120 days, I'm sure we can be civil to one another and do our jobs" Kate said.

"Of course, we can-" Tom stopped mid sentence as the phone rang, he stepped back to the deck and picked up the receiver."Chandler" he said.

Kate looked to Mike, noting that he looked exactly the same except for maybe a few more grey hairs. It didn't affect her memory recall and damn if she didn't feel that pull of attraction between them. Little over 4 years and one marriage should have killed any emotion or physical attachment she had to him but right now it felt like it slowly coming back to life.

"How's the Family?" She asked Mike, needing to fill the space and squash that revival of old feelings. Hence the question she needed to remind herself that he was with his wife and family making him completely off limits. Not to mention over four years ago he decided end their relationship and go back to his wife and try for his marriage again. She knew the biggest part of his decision was his kids. Kids always came first in any relationship. Anyway she had been truly fine with the decision even if it hurt like hell when he said it was over and left her. The stupid part was that she knew going in the relationship had an expiry date but it didn't stop her from stupidly falling in love with man. So right now she needed to remember all that and focus on why she was here. Her job.

"Good, how's your husband?" he asked there was a slightly snide note when he asked about her husband.

"Dead" She said bluntly. Mike looked taken back by her blunt answer as he hadn't expected her to say her husband was dead. At least he had the sense to look a little remorseful for being snide but before he could say anything Tom interrupted them.

"Admiral Foster would like to speak with you." he said to Kate, she nodded and stepped forward taking the phone from him but wondering what the hell an Admiral wanted to talk to her about.

"Hello" she said into the phone.

"We going to have a problem?" Tom asked in a low tone to Mike as Kate's back was turned to them as she spoke on the phone. Mike was unable to tear his eyes off her as her posture was rigid and she gave clear 'Yes, Sir' and 'Of course, Sir' answers.

"Not at all, I'm just peachy about all of this" Mike said through gritted teeth. Tom knew about the relationship between him and Kate. Not all the dirty details, but enough to know they had been intimate on and off for awhile when they were stationed overseas. Sure he could say that it wasn't cheating as Christina and he were separated at the time. There were a million excuses he could use but he wasn't going to make them. He owned his mistakes and learned from them.

The only mistake Kate was that she had made him realise how miserable he was with Christina, but also that he loved his wife and he just wasn't ready to give up on their marriage and break up their family. Sure he and Kate had something but she was Australian and career military one of them would have had to give up their career to give their relationship a serious go.

"I didn't know it was her and I'd kick her off but the Admiral told me to play nice with her or she'll take our new toys away." Tom said with a touch of humour but it was lost on Mike.

"Well I'm sure it'll be fine, just four months. How bad could it be?" Mike asked rhetorically.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

4 months later,

Kate was on top of the world—literally. The weapons systems Harris had designed were fully operational and performing beautifully which meant she hadn't had do anything but fly the Helo as Evan promised and write reports. All easily done, now the four months was over she was glad as she was ready to go home.

4 months on the Nathan James was not easy for her. But at least she got fly, Kate grinned at the clear blue skies, as she flew over the desolate land. They had just dropped off the decoy target and watched it explode. Another successful test. Now it was time to head back to the ship.

As they passed over the desolate landscape, Kate took in the view. She thought after 4 months she would be bored of it but she wasn't. She tightened her grip on the chopper's joystick and leaned forward in the cockpit, drawn in by the Helo's panoramic windows and the spectacular view below. There was no doubt about it. Every time they went up she felt like she was in heaven. Flying was her true passion and every time she went up, it reminded her of the good times.

"Takes your breath away, doesn't it?" Kate said to her co pilot Lt Grodin, she had been flying with him for four months. He was the Admiral's stepson, the man had told Kate that his stepson was fresh out of flight school and needed 'further training' that from her military jacket he was sure the kid could learn a thing or two from her. There was a rather vague derogatory compliment thrown in about her nationality and being a good ally even if she was ex-army but Kate let it slide as she was not in the business of ruffling feathers especially an Admiral's feathers.

After four months sharing the Helo with the kid earned his nickname as he needed to learn to less of a pain in her ass, get some impulse control and patience but hey what would she know. How he passed flight school was beyond her but then he had an Admiral for a stepfather. So obviously the kid had passed by the skin of his teeth because here he was in the cockpit as her co-pilot sulking because he wanted to be pilot. When he was a pilot he was passable as long as the weather was reasonable and there was no wind. So yeah he needed a lot of 'further training'.

Sure Kate could complain about the kid until Tom and Mike's ears bled but what was the point? They wouldn't believe her because Grodin was a professional in front of them and the other officers and on comms. She would also be gone, then Grodin would become someone else's problem. So she put up with it because she wasn't one to ruffle feather when she was on the James for a short length of time. Also his insolent behaviour was only in the Helo when it was just her, Crew Chief Sergeant Lange in the back, there was no real evidence that Grodin sulked like a 13 year old girl who been told she couldn't go to a One Direction concert to use as evidence.

"Yeah, it's great if you like sub zero temperatures and desolate surroundings" Grodin said sarcastically. Kate looked over her shoulder at her Crew Chief Sergeant Lang to see keeping his head down but a grin on his face. The man was a seasoned operator like herself and he had a kid who was still cute and lovable. It hadn't sunk in that one day he'd return from deployment and have a mini version of himself with Grodin's attitude problems.

Kate was about reply to Grodin's comment when orders came through from CIC to pick up Dr Scott and her team as temperatures were dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. "Copy that" she said, acknowledging the order, she looked to Grodin who nodded turning his gaze to the map he'd been using to supplement the Helo's malfunctioning global positioning system for the last thirty minutes.

At least the kid was all business when the orders came in from Tom_. Kiss ass…_ Kate thought as Grodin gave the directions to the coordinates they had dropped the Doctor and her team earlier that day. After a few minutes he glanced up again and pointed dead ahead. "Keep it steady. The drop zone is just over that ridge." Grodin told her.

Another two minutes later they were there.

Kate nudged her stick and swooped the Helo down into marked clearing. Even before she felt the gentle thump as the bird touched down into the snow, two marines in snow BDU's and snow skis stood to the side with Dr Scott and Doctor Tophet came towards the Helo. Kate relayed their status to the ship over the comm. While the group bustled into the back, once Grodin gave her the thumbs up to say everyone was in. She pulled on the stick and the Helo rose from the ground.

"Lassiter, what am I being summoned for now?" Rachel asked as soon as she put on her head set. Kate smiled. She bunked with the woman for four months.

The woman was not chatty, if anything Dr Scott was entirely wrapped up in her work. The only time they had a conversation was when they argued over who would have the bottom bunk. Rachel won out as the woman was always coming and going from their shared quarters a lot more than Kate was. That and Kate just couldn't be bothered arguing more than 5 minutes about a bed.

"Temperatures are dropping fast. We had to pick you up before it got too cold for the Helo to operate" Kate informed her. It wasn't the first time they had had this talk and Rachel was always put out whenever her field excursions were cut short. So Kate didn't take it personally.

"Just Fantastic" Rachel's voice grumbled in Kate's ears.

"ETA is 15 minutes people, so sit back and relax" Kate said over the comm.

* * *

After a quick hot shower, Kate changed out of her flight suit into her skinny jeans and a warm grey jumper with a cowl neck and her boots. She went to the wardroom for dinner, glad that she was late as the wardroom was empty bar the crewmen who was in charge of refreshing the food and the room. She plied her tray with food and then sat down at a table and picked up the bottle of ketchup and proceeded to smother the deep fried crumbed meat of unknown origins with it along with her rice and peas.

"Leave some ketchup for the rest of us" Mike said as he came into the ward room and went straight for the coffee. He had meant to just get his cup of coffee and leave quietly but there was something about Kate that just goaded him to push her buttons. Maybe it was that she had an air of defeat around her that pissed him or maybe the fact that after four years she seemed entirely unaffected being in his presence. He didn't know which thought was worse but both thoughts pissed him off more.

"And a good evening to you, Commander Slattery" Kate said in a dry unwelcoming tone, she was tempted to empty the bottle of ketchup onto her tray just to spite him but decided against it as there was such a thing as too much ketchup. She put the bottle back into the rack holder on the table and picked up her fork mashing up the meat, rice, peas and ketchup together into a indistinguishable mess.

"Another successful test and the end of the mission" he said in a smug if somewhat aggressive manner. It was his usual manner with her which is why Kate avoided him as much as possible. But they still encountered one another, she knew she should call him up on his behaviour but she couldn't be bother ruffling feathers so she did her best to ignore his baiting and scathing remarks. He had a true gift at making her feeling 5ft tall and not the sexy kind. She wished he would return the damn gift and give her break.

"I had no doubt in your crew's ability to perform, it's the technology and now we've successfully completed the exercises. It's over and once we are back in Norfolk. You'll never see me again" Kate assured him, hoping he would just take his damn coffee and go away as he was making it really hard for her to maintain her professionalism as she really wanted to deck him. So she reminded herself in a few days she would be free to go back to hiding from having a real life.

"Good, I have to say I'm looking forward to it" He told her before he stalked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"That's something we can agree on" Kate muttered under breath.

* * *

Two days later,

"I'm over this" Kate said, her good mood had completely evaporated when she was told the mission had been extended for an 'unknown' period of time. So today due to the low temperatures, Kate decided they'd take the scenic route to go pick up Dr Scott and her entourage.

She took yet another wide circle with the Helo, they had experienced some minor control issues due to the frosty wind. She was tempted to ground the Helo but knew once the engines stopped there was a good chance they wouldn't start again. So not wanting that to happen she kept flying in the hope the frosty wind would die down.

"Three days ago it was all 'isn't this breathtaking' and smiles. What's up?" Lange asked in an amused tone.

"I'm ready to go home" Kate complained she was pretty sure she sounded like Grodin who was unusually quiet today.

"The temperature has dropped another degree" Lange informed her.

"Grodin call the guys, get them to light a fire under the Doctor's ass otherwise I'm going to take us back to the James."

"Copy that" Grodin said, he switched out of their comm. line to make the call.

"And Lange, that was two days ago. I was on a high from the last training mission being a success. Now my job is finished, reports are written, weapons system upgrades are working perfectly. I want to go home and have a steak that costs more than $20 followed by a long hot bath with a glass of red wine and a good book" Kate said.

"Well you're stuck here like the rest of us. So your fancy steak will have to wait" Lange said.

"Why did they give a mission extension? Is there something I missed cause I'm not a member of the Navy Family?" Kate asked.

"I'm in the dark like you. But if I were to speculate. I'd say it may have something to do Dr Scott, as we aren't doing anything except waiting for her." Lange offered. Kate nodded as she wondered why she didn't think of it herself.

"Helo one please be advised that we have unidentified aircraft incoming.-" the man on the other end gave her co-ordinates and trajectory of the aircraft. Kate looked around and spotted two black helicopters flanked by three slightly larger heavily armed Helicopters doing in the direction of where Dr Scott and the others were.

"Shit" Grodin said as one of the helicopters nose dived into the ground and exploded. Two of the Helicopters peeled away and headed to the ship while one headed their direction the other swooped around the ground party. The armed Helicopter that stayed behind came straight at them. It quickly ate up the distance and started firing upon them.

"Evasive manoeuvres" Grodin shouted as if saying it out loud would make their Helo move faster.

"What do you think I'm doing" Kate said as the heavy round bullet shot straight through the plexi-glass of pilot window splintering the window and spraying shards of sharp glass at her as it travelled through the cockpit and out the other window. It was immediately followed but a couple more metal pings as the Helo was hit a couple more times as she lifted the Helo up and took another wide turn to get out of the enemy's firing range.

"We have incoming missile" Lange said as the proximity alarm sounded, Kate looked out the side window but and saw the missile heading straight for them.

"Damn, hold tight" Kate said she banked the Helo to the right, She set to evasive manoeuvres. There wasn't much else she could do. An explosion sounded ad the missile missed and exploded into the mountain nearby.

"More incoming" Lange told her.

"Shit! I can't see it. Where is it?" Kate said as she kept doing evasive manoeuvres vainly hoping they would not get blown out of the sky. Kate immediately dropped the Helo low to the ground inside a large valley of ice.

"Any lower and you'll hit ground!" Grodin said stating the obvious as they cruised straight ahead.

"It's behind us, closing in fast" Lange told her.

"Helos aren't made for the kind of manoeuvre you're thinking" Grodin said as it looked like Kate was going to crash them in to high ridge that surrounded the valley.

"The enemy has peeled away" Lange said as if it was important to know.

"We're going to crash if you don't pull up!" Grodin shouted at her.

"Just the fuck shut up" Kate shouted back. She pulled on the stick hard pulling the nose of the Helo up and swerving the Helo in a high angle turn. Everything; the angle of the turn, the proximity of the ridge was wrong but it was too late to berate her skills now as she committed to the turn.

The Helo's computers screamed at her in petulant beeps as the engines were stressing out and the proximity alarms went off. The Comm line was drowning her thoughts out as the James kept giving them updates on the situation and demanded a response in the return. It was like everything slow down as the ridge cleared out of the windscreen just as an explosion of fire engulfed the front window for a moment as the missile hit the ridge and not the Helo. But there was no time to celebrate as Kate continued forward and up. Disorientated by the flash of the fire for a moment Kate believed she cleared the ridge and dipped the nose to level out only to be mistaken as Helo bounced. Kate cursed again as she lifted the nose again and once she was sure they were well above the ridge she levelled out.

Kate's heart pounded a million miles an hour and she was about ready to puke in relief as the James informed them all hostiles were taken care of and they were quickly given new orders to pick up wounded. Kate acknowledged the orders and changed course to the coordinates given to her.

"Damage report" Kate said as it was a little overdue given the circumstances. Cold air blasted in her face from the broken window.

"Looks like superficial damage, we got lucky" Lange told her.

"No shit" Kate said giving a weak laugh as she looked over at Grodin. The young man was deathly pale and frankly he looked like he was going to be sick. She just hoped he kept it together until they got back to the ship.

* * *

An hour later,

"_Touch down_" Kate heard over her comm. Two words she never so happy in her life to hear.

"Ok, let's do this. Post flight check and then damage assessment" Kate said, she shut down the engines and started flicking switches. The deck filled with medics and deck crew swamping the Helo in a flurry of activity as the passengers disembarked. "Close call on that bullet aye Grodin" Kate said as she poked her glove finger through the hole in the window, when Grodin didn't say anything she looked over at him.

"Grodin?" Kate prompted as the kid had already wrenched off his helmet and was breathing erratically as he undid his straps and pushed out of the cockpit exiting the Helo without a word. She was surprised at how fast he had bailed on them.

Kate turned around to Lange who looked as confused as she was. She undid her straps, pulled off her helmet. "Can you see him?" she asked loudly over the cacophony of noise. Lange got up from his place and moved to the open side door for a moment before moving to crouch behind the back of her seat.

"Ah yeah, he's puking up his guts" Lange replied casually.

"Great, at least he had the decency to wait until we landed" Kate said with a wry smile.

"Hey you got some blood" Lange said gesturing to her left side of her chin.

"I do? " Kate said, she pulled off her glove and touched her face when she drew her fingers back she was surprised to see blood. It didn't hurt but then her face was so cold she could barely feel herself speaking. "How bad?" she asked. Lange leaned in to take a closer look.

"Looks superficial but-" he started only be cut off as Mike interrupted hi,.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Mike asked though it sounded more like a demand than him asking out of concern as his wore a hard and slightly angry expression when he looked at her.

"Fine" Kate said as she touched her chin, she was pretty sure she was spreading the blood around than actually taking it off.

"Yes, Sir. It was a close shave but Lassiter handled it well." Lange said singing her praises.

"You need a medic Lassiter" Mike told her.

"I'm not wasting the doc's time with a scratch" she told him. Mike knew better than to push Kate because right now he still needed her to go pick up the stragglers and she looked in complete control of her faculties.

"Ok, once the flight deck is clear I want the marines and the gear back on ship A.S.A.P" He told them.

"Aye, Aye" Kate said with a mock salute. Mike narrowed his eyes not appreciating her sass and turned away for just a moment to leave but then turned back.

"Where's Grodin?" Mike asked them.

"He'll be back in a minute, just had to get a medic look at him" Lange said with a shrug as if not to make a big deal out it. Mike's bullshit detector rang loud and clear in his head when Kate added quickly.

"We'll work fast to get everything stowed away. By the way what is going on out there?" Kate said to Mike, no need to embarrass Grodin just because he lost his lunch in his first real experience of combat. Hell, someone else could get him in trouble. Mike knew they were covering for Grodin, she could tell from his expression as it grew dark.

"You'll know when everybody else knows" he told her in a cold tone locking eyes with her. She wondered how many people broke under his hard gaze.

"Alright, well we will get everything squared away as quickly as possible" Kate told him. He narrowed his eyes slightly for just a moment before pushing away from the Helo and stalking away giving orders to those around him to clear the deck.

"What's his problem with you?" Lange asked. Kate gave a shrug.

"I may have said something discouraging about the Cubs. You know how you boys get your grundies in a twist about sport" Kate told him. Lange rolled his eyes.

"Ok, don't tell me the truth and here" he said handing her a clean handkerchief that he had doused with water "Clean the blood off your face. It's not an attractive look" he told her. Kate flipped him the one finger salute as she took the handkerchief and blindly wiped her face.

"Sorry guys" Grodin said as he reappeared.

"You ok?" Kate asked him, feeling genuinely concerned as it was the kid's first time at seeing action. She pocked the dirty handkerchief and settled back into her seat. She strapped herself into her chair.

"Yeah" Grodin said with a nod that it contradicted his current demeanour.

"Good, get strapped in, we have to go get the others" Kate said to him.

"Look, don't feel so bad. Everyone loses their lunch after the first time" Lange said to him.

"Yeah and that manoeuvre I pulled is not something to admire. 99% of the time we would have died in a fiery and painful manner" Kate said half teasingly as she pulled her helmet back on.

"You're really bad at pep talks" Grodin said as he strapped himself back into his chair.

"I didn't realise I was giving a pep talk" Kate said as she powered up the engines again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

A few hours later, everything on the ship had settled from the earlier events but the atmosphere was fraught as everyone was wondering what the hell was going on. Why were they attacked by the Russians?

Kate feeling very much in the dark with everyone else focussed on her duties which was cleaning and assessing the Helo's exterior for damage from the attack, the subsequent explosion and her slight 'kiss' of the ridge. They had been lucky that the only damage to the human factor involved was a couple small knicks to her face and Grodin's ego since news had travelled far and wide about him herfing his guts over the railing of the ship. So when the crewman had come for her with orders to escort her to the Captain's office, Kate was a little curious as to why as it wasn't like they didn't know what happened.

She also wished she had been given time to have a shower or at least change out of her overalls as she was covered in soot, grease and sweat from checking over every part of the Helo to make sure nothing was damaged. So she was definitely not smelling like a garden rose.

When they got there and the crewman knocked on the door. The door the Captain's office swung open and Mike glared down at her. It was rather impressive as he did that look, the gift she wished he would return. His eyes roved her 'grease monkey' look. He looked to the crewman.

"Dismissed" he said, the man nodded and practically ran away in fear. Kate didn't blame him considering when Mike was angry he could be a bit like the incredible hulk. One just kept waiting for him to turn green and start destroying the place but luckily he never progressed to that level of anger. Yet. He moved out of the way and Kate stepped into the office.

"Before you start, the damage to the Helo is cosmetic. Once we get back to a base they can replace the windows and buff out the damage. She'll be good as new" Kate said because she was hoping it would diffuse the tension in the room. Tom who had had his back to her when she came in turned around to face her.

"I don't care about that. Now sit your ass down" Tom ordered her in a stern tone as soon as Mike closed the door. He gestured to a chair in front of two screens. Kate reared back slightly as pure hostility and testosterone rolled off the two men at her. It made her wondered what she did to deserve it.

"Ok" Kate said, she took a seat as the two men glared down at her for a long moment making her feel a little uncomfortable. In that moment she remembered the Monty Python joke 'No one ever expects a Spanish inquisition' and felt the inappropriate urge to laugh. But she didn't instead she pushed the rolled sleeves of her overalls to her elbows and folded her arms in a defensive manner. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Did you know?" Tom asked her. Kate quirked an eyebrow at the question as she felt like she was missing something very important here especially since they looked like they were ready kill someone.

"Know what?" she asked carefully as she wondered why she was suddenly feeling guilty when she had nothing to be guilty about.

"This" He moved behind her chair and pushed it in front of the screen and turned it on. Kate watched and listened to several news pieces about a pandemic sweeping across the globe and the world turning hell in hand basket with bodies piling up, Governments gone quiet as their countries destabilised, civil unrest, cities burning, and martial law being ineffective to quell the rioters. Kate watched the screen keeping a neutral face because she truly didn't know how to react to what was happening.

After she watched several news feeds Tom switched off the screens and pulled her chair back before the two men stood in front of her again. She already tagged Tom as the 'good cop' and Mike as 'Bad cop' as he had finely crafted his persona for the last four months that if he started being like the Mike she remembered she would probably pass out from the whip lash.

"Did you know?" Tom asked her repeating his earlier question.

"About a pandemic and the world going ape shit? Ah no" Kate said, she wondered what he was accusing her of.

"Did you know about Dr Scott's true mission here?" he asked, Kate's eyebrows rose this time.

"What mission? She's doing a study on birds" Kate said stating what she knew to be true but it looked like the men didn't believe her. "Seriously, what the hell do you think I know?" she asked definitely feeling persecuted.

"That you knew Dr Scott's true purpose for being here. That she came here to find the primordial strain of this virus to make a vaccine. It was the whole point of this excursion. The weapons test was a you were brought in to perpetrate the illusion" Tom informed her, Kate shook her head.

"Yes, because I watched two seasons of ReGenesis in preparation for this assignment and that just made me more qualified than all the other Helo pilots in Evan's pocket qualified to comprehend Dr Scott's research and be able to assess her progress. When she is closed I will then rely the information back to headquarters via morse code because I'm that brilliant. All because Lassiter Industries wants to hold the market on the vaccine to make up for the profit loss this year when the pandemic erupted and be touted the heroes of the planet" Kate said in a patronising tone.

She rolled her eyes and Mike wanted to strangle her because this was serious and she was mocking them. All the times he gave her jibes and she let it roll off her back only to now bite back at them. He had to admit it was good to see she hadn't lost the fire in her, he'd forgotten how feisty she was and how attractive her sarcasm could be but now it wasn't appropriate.

"Kate" Mike growled. She narrowed her eyes at him and tightened her arms which were folded across her chest as if to make herself smaller. She was in complete defensive mode, a state that made it hard to get answers from a person.

"Look I swear to you, I didn't know anything about this." Kate told them.

"Yeah?" Mike asked questioning her honesty as she didn't look scared, or entirely shocked but then who knew what happened to her the past four years. He did know one thing she was much better at concealing her emotions.

"Yes, contrary to what you want to believe. I had no idea about this. My reason for being here was legitimate. I was in the dark as much as you both were. I didn't retire from the army to get involved in another war. So why don't you tell me why the Russians were attacking us" Kate said insulted that they would think she would be apart a large subterfuge as Dr Scott had just played them. She wanted to go home. She wanted to kick her Evan Harris's ass for manipulating her into this with an I.O.U. She wondered if the man even knew but what did it matter now? He was probably dead but if he was alive, she was going to kick his ass.

Tom seemed to believe her as he gave a sigh and backed away from her. Mike wasn't going to let her off so easily though as he stayed in his spot and glared down at her. It was like a compulsion for him to just push her.

"Russia doesn't have a functioning government. We were attacked by a rogue force." Tom told her, Kate cursed under her breath.

"That means there will be more rogue forces out there between here and America" Kate said stating the obvious.

"Thank you, we hadn't-" Mike started but Kate cut him off.

"I'm not patronising you, I'm just trying to get my head around all the information you two have laid on me. What are you planning to do?" Kate asked Tom feeling at a loss of how to deal with this situation or even how much control she had.

"Now, you get to hear what I'm going to tell the crew in half an hour. So when you leave here I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything" Tom told her, Kate gave a nod understanding that the Captain had the right to privacy and to when hand whom he distributed information to.

"Of course, I'll keep my mouth shut. This is your ship" she said. Tom nodded.

"The current President wants us to escort Dr Scott to a lab in the States. But first we need to refuel in France before crossing the Atlantic. I'm also giving everyone a chance call home. You can use my office phone" Tom said to her. Kate looked at him and she heard his words but she wondered where she fit into all their plans. She was an Australian citizen working for an American Company on an American Military vessel.

"I'm going to be selfish here but I was thinking more about myself. I'm not a member of your military or country which right now is making me feel a little uncomfortable about where I stand in all this" Kate said being brutally honest. Mike turned away from them and walked behind her. She had no idea what his problem was and right now didn't care. Tom gave her a wry smile.

"To be honest you're a little low on my list of priorities right now. I don't have the fuel or time to take you back to Australia let alone chase down an Australian frigate that can get you to your home" Tom told her in a serious but patronising manner. Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes as that wasn't what she asked.

"I wasn't asking for a lift back to Sydney, I was asking if you're planning to boot me off your ship at the first rock you see or keeping me onboard" Kate told him bluntly. He looked genuinely surprised at her words and even gave a faint smile.

"You can be rest assured that I'm not going to boot you off my ship. Unless you give me a good reason because right now I still in need a seasoned pilot like you" Tom told her as if it was supposed to assure her but really it didn't because all it took was for them to find another pilot with her resume or better for her to be ousted.

"Right" she said in a tight manner as it wasn't exactly a warm welcome to stay nor a brusque go away. "Ok, Fair enough. I think I would like to try and make that phone call" Kate said to Tom as she just assumed the 'meeting' was over.

"Of course" Tom said.

* * *

Hours later,

"Tea?" Kate asked Rachel as the woman came into the wardroom. Rachel looked exhausted but then after the day they had who wouldn't. Kate had gone back to the Helo bay and looked at the damage wondering how she was going to fix it on the fly or if she should wait and see what was left of American government and Military when the Nathan James made port. So feeling still at a loss to what to do she got cleaned up and went to the wardroom to for a cup of tea. She just hoped Rachel's day was more productive than hers.

"Please" she said. Kate nodded and poured two cups of hot water, leaving one mug for Rachel to sort herself out as Kate dunked a tea bag into her own it was the strength she wanted and disposed of the bag. Silence filled the room and it felt awkward and somewhat painful as Rachel looked at her warily.

"Did you get through to your family?" Rachel asked breaking the silence first. She had been working for hours with Quincy and this was her first break. She was never one to socialise but right now she felt like talking about anything but her work.

She couldn't help but feel the silent animosity roll off the crew at her for her secrecy. But she understood it, she was the reason they were here in a seemingly impossible situation. Her bunkmate of four months cleared her throat and nodded as they moved to the table.

"Yes, my brother in law slash boss. He's in a safe zone near Colorado" Kate said casually as she took her seat. Rachel looked up in surprise as she had expected the woman to grieving like the rest the crew as there were very few people who had gotten through to their loved ones. Rachel noted that even having the good news, Kate was still subdued and looked rather exhausted. She searched the woman's face for a trace of anger and found nothing.

"What about your family and husband?" Rachel asked with trepidation as she was not very good with people and emotions on the best of days.

"Family been gone for years. My husband passed last year" Kate said with a shrug playing it off like it wasn't a big deal. "So tell me is everything the Captain said true? You know about your secret mission. Why you were digging around the snow all those days?" Kate asked in an idle tone making conversation.

"Yes" Rachel said carefully as she was ready to defend her position, give her side of the situation.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Kate asked, Rachel nodded.

"Yes" Rachel answered, she waited for Kate to ask 'was it worth it?' followed by the anger but it never came into the woman's features. Instead she gave a nod and looked rather calmly resigned to it all.

"So did you have the chance to call your loved ones?" Kate asked. Rachel shook her head, she couldn't even get the CDC on the SAT phone.

"I don't have any family and the one person I tried to call. Well the phone was turned off. So I can only assume he is dead" Rachel said trying to keep her own poker face on. Silence lapsed between them as they drank their tea.

"My condolences" Kate said. Rachel looked away and nodded as she didn't want to be a pragmatic or be a realist this one time. She wanted someone she loved to survive this, she needed something to motivate her, to keep her going besides the sheer need to survive. She needed to feel that hope the Captain had instilled into the crew when he told them they would be staying on the ship while she worked on trying to develop a vaccine.

"Thank you" Rachel said appreciating the acknowledgement of her loss. "I saw the damage to your helicopter, looked like a rather close call" Rachel said making conversation, Kate swallowed the sip of tea she had taken and made a face as she waved a dismissive hand.

"We were lucky." Kate said casually as she didn't want to make a big deal about it. She felt if you talked about a situation like it was a drama then it would turn into one. She preferred to keep everything low key as much as possible.

"I saw the damage" Rachel said, she was still feeling shaken by being grazed by a bullet earlier that day. Obviously she didn't know her bunkmate very well as the woman didn't seem to be affected at all.

"It wasn't anywhere close to hitting me and anyway the damage to the Helo was superficial, I just hope they don't take the cost of repairs out of my pay check when we get back" Kate joked. Rachel gave a weak laugh realising the woman was using humour to deflect attention off how she was feeling.

"I'm sure you'll be safe given the current climate" Rachel told her, thinking it was a good tact to take.

"I hope so, the exchange rate was killer last time I checked and I'm being paid in Australian dollars" Kate said before taking a sip of her own tea.

"Better in than being paid in Pounds" Rachel quipped, Kate tilted her head to the side and looked at her funny.

"You made a joke" Kate said mockingly disbelief.

"I am capable of a sense of humour given the chance" Rachel, Kate chucked as Rachel gave a brief smile grateful that she still had the ability to smile and laugh after today's events. They lapsed into a companionable silence that turned sombre. After a few long moments, Kate sat back in her chair and rubbed her face with her hands before giving a sigh of aggravation.

"I'm going to call it a night" Kate said.

"Ok, I think I'll head back to the lab" Rachel said as Kate rose from her chair. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. "You should think about getting some sleep yourself" Kate told her as she headed to the door.

* * *

Mike sat at the desk staring at into space as he still heard Christina's voice in his head. Her grief stricken recriminations playing over in his head about how he left her alone to fend for herself and the kids, left her alone to watch their son die. Lucas. It tore him to pieces to know he didn't have a chance to save his son, didn't have a chance to see him before he died. But the bad news did come with some good as knew his girls were alive and he had gotten to hear their voices. It near made him break down in tears when he listened their pleas to come home. It hurt that he couldn't do anything to comfort them, his words of advice and comfort felt empty as all he could think about was how he was stuck on a ship too far away to hold them, to keep them safe and the dark reality that he might never see them again. Just like Lucas.

His hands squeezed into tight fists as he just wanted punch something; he wanted to tear the office apart just to let out his grief. But then he remembered he stuck on a ship, where he couldn't do anything and had too many people counting on him to keep it together, keep a level head. So he pushed up from his seat and stalked out of the office to go to the bridge. He knew he would go insane if he stayed in his quarters. He needed to do what he did best and that was work.

* * *

Later that night,

Kate hit her head on the ceiling when she awoke with a start thanks to the alarm blared through out the ship. She hissed with pain and rubbed head when the P.A. activated the Master Chief's voice sounded through the alarm.

_"Baton down. Officer of the Watch; Seal the ship. Prepare for Nuclear Detonation. This is no drill"_ he voice drawled over the P.A.

Kate swung her legs over the edge of the top bunk, she hadn't even stripped out of her clothes but she did take off her boots. She slid off the top bunk softly landing on the floor. She turned on the lights and then went to pull on her boots for some strange reason she felt the need to do something than just sit on her behind and just wait to die. The alarm went silent and was slowly replaced with wail of a siren, the noise sent a shiver down Kate's spine.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath wishing for once she actually believed in a higher being because then it would give her a reason to pray without feeling like an idiot.

Within seconds of the siren's start, the ship shook, the lights flickers and then went completely out. Kate sat in pitch black, it was terrifyingly quiet as the engines had seemed to stop. _The EMP, back up systems will kick in..._ Kate thought to herself so she would calm down.

But it didn't help as she jumped when the room was filled with a red glow from the emergency lighting system. She started to hear voices shouting and movement outside her room. She got up from the bed and opened the door. Only to stop short as men raced passed her door.

Knowing better, she decided it was best to stay in her quarters and out the hallways. It wasn't like she could help them. She felt entirely superfluous to them and she would only get in the way. So she closed the door and secured it and moved back to the bunk taking a seat. She ran her hands through her hair as she told herself not for the first time that she was relying on others to keep her alive and it meant she would have to get used to not knowing every detail and being in the loop. Even if she hated it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Few days later, off the coast of America. Mayport Naval Station, Florida

Kate stood out on the deck with everyone else looking at the coast line. She knew when the crew on the deck saw it. They saw hope, their home, their chance to find their families. She looked out at it and just saw dread as she wondered when and where she would be abandoned. To her it was a death sentence even if Tom reassured her that he had a purpose for her it didn't stop her from feeling like there was an expiry date on her.

She was an outsider in this crew and as such she deliberately kept a low profile keeping to herself and staying out of the ship crews' way. She hadn't spoken to anyone in days except for Rachel as they both shared the same space and they tended to run into one another in the wardroom to catch a meal or a late night tea. They were starting to build a bit of a comradery from the snippets of time spent together. Rachel like herself was just keeping her head down but at least the woman had work.

Kate hadn't done anything of use but then there was no need for the Helo to go for a fly and it would be a waste of resources to do so just because she was bored or feeling the need to get off the ship. She still remembered Evan telling her that Phillip Chen hadn't been run over for J-walking. He had reassigned the guy so she could take his place. He wanted her to keep her safe and knew that her being on the Nathan James out of harm's way was the only course of action. All because he owed it to his dead brother take care of her. She didn't know how to take what he said, so she did what she usually did and called him an asshole and said he better he stay alive because she was going to kick his ass when she saw him next.

What was she supposed to say? I love you in a very platonic fashion and will forever be grateful to you for saving me. Yeah, she was not capable of heart wrenching soulful conversations on the phone or in person. She always found those kinds of conversations incredibly awkward and mostly embarrassing.

After a few minutes of fresh air and sunshine she turned her back to the view and walked away as she saw all she needed to and now needed to get away from the crew as she could see they were getting maudlin as they realised they weren't coming home to the place they remembered. At least they would eventually get the chance to go home. Kate on the otherhand had no idea what her future held at all. With that unnerving thought she walked in the direction of the Helo Bay.

It had become one of her haunt when she wasn't in her bunk or the wardroom as it was barely frequented and there was enough space for her to practice QiGong when she needed relax and not think. Thinking was not a good thing for her to do as she just kept rolling the same grim thoughts in her head over and over. She found with Qigong it kept her mind empty as she just focussed on her form and breathing. It helped a lot to reduce her stress even though she'd rather be in the gym doing more strenuous exercise but sadly mash potatoes and peaches was not enough to give her the energy and stamina she needed to have a good workout. She needed some solid food, hell she needed a cold beer and steak which she highly doubted she would be getting any time soon.

* * *

Mike looked out at the headlands through his binoculars, he didn't know what he expected to see but he felt the draw of the land, the sense of purpose fill his being as he looked upon the Florida coastline. It meant he was closer to finding the girls and Christina. He already started formulating plans to track them down. They just had to drop off the doctor at the labs and hope that there was a large enough of a military presence for him to be given time off to retrieve his family and bring them back to a secure location out of harm's way.

Whatever happened with Kate wasn't his business and she was smart enough to know where she was not welcome. He was just glad she had made herself scarce as she was such an easy target to lash out at with his anger. The last few days when she did cross his path, she just took whatever he dished out and let his words roll off her like water off a duck's back. It pissed him off to no end that she was so blasé towards him which only annoyed him further because he didn't know why it matter to him when it really shouldn't have. Not able to finish his thoughts he heard the side door to the bridge open and Master Chief start to talk to him.

"No radiation detected within a hundred mile radius sir, if America was nuked it wasn't here" Master Chief said, Mike felt relief wash over him at the knowledge as it was good news. He lowered his binoculars and looked to the man feeling a sense of relief at his news. It was some good news which meant he was closer to getting his family back.

"We're home" he said the Master Chief with a reverence as the words meant something in the moment. He hoped it spelled the end of their journey so he could finally go search for his family. They on the balcony in silence for a long moment just drinking it in before Mike lifted the binoculars again to take in the view once again.

* * *

Some time later, Kate sat in the Wardroom at a table with a bowl of peaches and a cup of tea when the door opened and Tom walked closed the door securing it before he moved to her table and sat down opposite her.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Tom asked as he got himself a fresh cup of coffee. He was about to go back up to the Bridge but as this was the first time he'd been in the same room as Kate in over a few days he thought it best to take advantage as they needed to talk. Or mostly, he needed to talk to her.

"By all means" Kate said as she seasoned her peaches with salt and pepper. Tom watched her with an odd look on his face as he had never seen anyone season their fruit with salt let alone pepper and then a dash of maple syrup.

"You know the mashed potato would be better choice for dinner than eating that" he told her as he took a seat opposite her at the table with his coffee.

"Had the mash for lunch. I assume you're here for more than socialising" Kate said idly as she ate a bite of the peaches.

"You heard my speech today?" he asked Kate nodded as she knew he was referring to when he addressed the ship to inform that they were going to stay on the ship and continue the mission to bring a vaccine to save the world..blah blah and so forth. She listened to the key parts as she didn't feel his sense of 'hope' or devotion but knew better than to voice it.

"Yeah I did, it was very inspiring" Kate said being completely honest with him.

"Thank you" he said before he took a breath to address a rather sensitive manner "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you these last few days" he added.

"About?" she asked.

"I know you're not American-" he started but Kate cut him off with an amused smile.

"You say that like being Australian is a bad thing" Kate chuckled and then sobered somewhat when she said "Though am I still an Australian Citizen if my country no longer exists?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer that" he told her, Kate took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Tom swore he could see her letting go of the quandary as casual apathy from before played on her features again. He knew it was just a mask like the one he wore around the chip that said he was completely in control of the situation to reassure everyone that they would be alright even if the situation contradicted him.

"Sorry, we digressed. You wanted to talk to me about something" Kate said before she took another bite of her meal. Tom leaned forward in his chair and rested his hands on the table interlacing his fingers.

"Yes, I wanted to say is that you're not officially a member of my crew or my military but you are one of two people on this ship fully qualified to operate the Helo. But you're the only one of two people who has logged the most hours flying in a combat zone." he told her. Kate picked up the maple syrup bottle and opened it and proceeded to pour some more on her fruit.

"I wouldn't say Grodin is fully qualified to fly a Helo" Kate scoffed as she recapped the bottle and put it back into the holder on the table. Tom frowned as this was the first time they had spoken about Grodin, but then the last four months had been about the ship's weapons systems.

"You said he has potential" Tom said assuming she was understating the young lieutenant's talent for reasons he couldn't figure out yet. Kate gave a chuckle.

"No offense but anyone on this ship has potential to fly a Helo. Grodin just has a leg up because he went to flight school" Kate told him. He frowned at her as he didn't like being unaware of a problem in his crew. Kate seemed to read his expression because she gave a sigh and said. "Look, he's ok. He just needs to learn a few things." Kate said

"Cut the crap and tell me what is going on?" Tom told her. Kate looked reluctant to say anything but he shot her a look that said he would push her until he got answers.

"I'm not military and I've been retired for 3 and half years. You know how it is" she said trying to be make a big deal of it and failing miserably.

"No, I don't" he said in a flat tone. Kate gave a frustrated sigh.

"He doesn't value my experience or knowledge or respect me because obviously in Australia our piloting is substandard. It's not a big deal, he's young and cocky. He's still in that stage where he thinks he's the bees knees because he's been training for the last year. A few more close calls with death should humble him" she said with a dismissive shrug.

Tom looked at her as if she were insane. On one side he completely understood what she was saying. Nearly every soldier came out of basic training; overconfident, cocky and thinking they were prepared for everything. They trained for months, they were patted on the back when they got it right but the translation of that training into combat was a definite shock to the system because nothing could prepare a person for reality of what they would do, the stress of their jobs when everything hung on the line. Of course, majority lost the cockiness when it became real that they could be killed.

"Tell me why am I only hearing about this now?" he asked.

"Because I didn't realise I had to report to you about it" Kate said defensively.

"Well if you're going to stay then yes you will have to report to me and Commander Slattery" he told her as if she didn't know that already.

"If? You make it sound like I have a choice" she said her tone rich as she at another bite of her dinner. They both knew her chance of survival off the ship was incredibly low given the current situation.

"I was going to ask to stay as a courtesy. You do have a choice, it's just that we both know you're better off staying with the James than going anywhere else" he said watching her carefully.

"You know considering my history with your XO who doesn't exactly have the cosiest feelings towards me of late for reasons unknown to me. I figured you'd kick me off the ship because of the Bro code bullshit" she said in disdain. Tom gave her a patronising look as he sat back in his chair and looked at her. He couldn't believe she had just said that to him.

"Ok, let's get something clear here. First off, Bro code?" he asked in disbelief. He looked at her with a firm and steady gaze. "I'm an adult and the Captain of a Destroyer, responsible for 216 souls. I don't have the time for that juvenile bullshit. Secondly, what happened between you and Mike is yours and his business. When it starts to affect my ship then we'll have problems and even then I'm not going to throw you over board without a valid reason. So you and he are going to have to figure out a way of being copacetic preferably before I have to step in. Understood?" He asked her, he didn't mean to be so stern but he had to make himself clear with her.

"Yes and for the record. I'm always civil to his face" she said in a slightly petulant manner which he gave a wry smile at the last part. He didn't need to know what she said out of ear range as it was once again none of his business.

"I'm sure" he said mockingly as right now she going from 30 something to 13 in age.

"You know Mike treats me like I purposefully came back after four years of no contact to be a thorn in his backside but I didn't. I moved on and I didn't ask for this assignment and it was forced on me" Kate told him.

"Right along with a healthy pay check. I know going into the Private Sector is lucrative, maybe he's peeved you sold out" Tom said wondering why he suddenly felt like Miranda sitting opposite Carrie from Sex and the City. Just making that analogy made him think of how his wife used to have an unhealthy obsession with that show. Kate gave an aggravated sigh dragging him out of his thoughts.

"Please, you want the truth?" Kate asked she pulled her wallet out of back pocket and pulled out the photocopy of the post it note and held it out to him "This is the only reason I'm here" she told him, he leaned forward and took the piece of paper, unfolding it to read it.

She watched as he read the photocopy and then looked back at her, he gave away nothing as he looked down at the paper again. This time his covered his mouth with his hand and looked intently down at the page like he were analysing a state secret. Kate flattened her lips into a thin line as she waited for him to say something. Instead he remained silent and sat back in his chair. After a long moment passed, he spoke.

"Let me guess this straight" he said in serious manner. "You're on my ship because of an I.O.U. on a Post it Note you wrote 3 years ago" he said as he looked down at the photocopied Post it note in complete disbelief. This was something he had definitely not expected. He had to cover his mouth earlier because he was struggling to keep a straight face.

"Yes" she said feeling petulant and annoyed at his assumptions of her character thinking she might be on the ship because she held a torch for Mike. Her annoyance only increased when he smiled.

"A post it note" he clarified. Kate threw her hands up in frustration.

"Yes, I was drunk. Very, very drunk and it didn't seem like a big deal when my brother in law Evan wanted it in writing that I owed him onw. I didn't know it would be considered a valid contract that I'm obligated to fulfil" Kate told him flustered as it was embarrassing as hell.

"Really? Evan Lassiter told you that and you bought it?" Tom asked trying to keep a straight face, he was silently impressed with man for his ingenuity and originality. He looked at Kate and could help but smile at her flustered yet sour mood.

"Look I was grieving at the time. So excuse me if I wasn't thinking clearly at the time and he'd never lied to me before. So yes, I believed him and his I.O.U. was that I sign a 3 year contract with his company. So I did and here I am" Kate said and that was when he started to laugh. He laughed at her like it was possibly the funniest thing she had ever told him.

"Are you done?" she asked after she allowed him a few minutes to enjoy a good laugh at her.

"No, this is gold"

"Fuck you"

"I'm not your type." He replied and he only laughed some more when she flipped him the one finger salute. "Can I keep this?" he asked.

"No!" she said indignantly as she then reached across the table and snatched the paper out of his hand.

"So now you know all my secrets" Kate said.

"If this is your only secret then we should be fine" he countered with a smile. He hadn't known what to think when she came onto his ship but now he knew she had felt legally bound by a Post it note. Well for some reason it made him laugh and damn if that didn't feel good.

"I'm glad you find my stupidity amusing and don't you dare tell anyone about this" she said as she folded the paper up and put it back into her wallet and into her pocket. Tom rose from his seat and looked down at her.

"Then why do you carry it with you?" he asked.

"I carry it to remind me never to put things down in writing and always read a contract before you sign it" Kate said snidely, though that wasn't entirely true.

"Well, I guess now it's the Post it note saved your life" he said before leaving the wardroom.


	5. Chapter 5

_ A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. They are well loved as it's great to have feedback! :-D and also thank you for the favourites and the follows!_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

_****Flashback****_

_Nearly 5 years ago, Rota, Spain._

_"We legally separated before I left. So I can only imagine what fun she's getting up to. My lawyer thinks she'll want to keep it on for another 5 years before divorcing me so she can get benefits from the uniformed services former spouse protection act" Mike said, before he downed the shot of Tequila relishing the burn before he chased it with locally brewed cerveza._

_He and Tom were sitting in a quiet outdoor bar enjoying R&R. Well Tom was enjoying his R&R while jealousy clawed at Mike as he wished he and Christina were more like Tom and his wife. The two were happily married and from what Mike inferred the two barely fought unless it was about Tom's father. If only Mike had the Captain's problems. So while Tom enjoyed his cerveza and shot, Mike just wanted to drown his sorrows._

_He loved his job but he hated how it was destroying his marriage. 8 years he and Christina had been married. Christina had told him she was tired of the isolation, of having to be responsible for their family home. How she was tired of waiting for him, tired of not being appreciated. That part he never understood as he always gave her his best. Yet she managed to strip him down and make him feel like he was absentee, negligent bastard who preferred the Navy to his wife and kids which was not true. But it didn't help that she knew just the right words to cause the maximum amount of pain and guilt. Last time he was home from deployment, she hit him with papers for a legal separation. Not quite a divorce but damn it if the failure to keep his wife didn't just sit his gut and rot away at his self value._

_"What are you going to do?" Tom asked him. Mike sat back in his chair and gave a sigh as he really didn't want to talk about, what was the point? There was nothing he could do to fix it._

_"I don't know, can't do anything from here. It's just a mess" Mike said._

_"I'm sorry man" Tom said._

_"Not your fault" Mike said before he took another long pull of Cerveza._

_"I'm going to get us another round tequila" Tom said, Mike gave a nod grateful that they had plans to get drunk as that's what he needed a few hours of brain time out. Tom rose from his chair and disappeared to the bar._

_While he was gone Mike looked around the bar. It was a beautiful clear night and the temps were in the low 74s. The bar was inside a small building with tables and chairs spilling out onto a large patio that was lit with fairy lights that overlooked the harbour. It was a tourist trap but one only ventured by those who wanted a quiet drink and a good meal something Mike preferred to the nightclubs he had frequented in his youth._

_He was looking out to view when he heard the chair opposite him scrap on the stone, he looked over to see a beautiful woman with a Cerveza in hand park herself in Tom's chair. She had long red hair, blue eyes and pale skin. She was dressed in a loose light blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and white short shorts coupled giving him a nice view of a set of long shapely legs._

_"Hi" she said with a smile, she sat back in Tom's chair with such an ease that said she had been sitting there all along._

_"That seat is taken" Mike told her as he really wanted to drink himself into a coma not tell another woman that Tom was married._

_"I know, by the way I'm Kate" She said as she sat forward and held out one hand to him._

_"Mike" he said as he shook her hand to be polite. He noted the firm grip of the shake before he released her hand. She smiled and took a pull of her beer, then leaned forward in her seat and rested her arms on the table as if they were having an intimate conversation._

_"So, Mike. Here's the deal. My friend over there" she said, gesturing with the slight tilt of her bottle in direction of a table where another attractive woman who looked to be of Asian descent sat watching them. "and I were wondering if you guys like to join us" Kate said, her eyes roved him like he were a juicy steak cooked to perfection. Normally he'd find it annoying but right now it gave his ego a bit of zing to know he still had the power to attract a beautiful woman._

_"We're just having a quiet one" Mike said subtly turning her down as it was second nature to shut down any and all flirtation with a stranger because he was married. Legally separated.. he silently corrected himself. _

_"We couldn't change your mine? My friend is keen on yours. She likes how he fills out his jeans. Her words not mine" Kate told him, Mike gave a chuckle while Kate plied him with a stunning smile._

_"He's married" Mike told her, he watched as her eyebrows rose in surprise but the smile remained more or less intact._

_"Yeah?" Kate asked, he nodded._

_"he is" He assured her. _

_"Happily?" she asked. Now he had to admit that was a first as he had never fielded such a question from a woman but was amused nonetheless._

_"Yes, sickeningly so" he informed her before laughing._

_"Good for him" Kate said with a shrug not even looking disappointed for a minute. "So what about you?" Kate asked Mike, he paused mid sip as he wondered how loose her friend's morals were._

_"I'm not interested in being your friend's consolation prize" Mike told her._

_"Who says I was asking for my friend's sake." She shot hot sensual look that made it pretty clear that she was definitely interested and not shy in showing it. "I don't see a ring" she added before she bit her bottom lip and smiled. It was sexy as hell and it was something he definitely should not find a turn on considering his situation but he did._

_Mike had taken off his ring, he knew it was stupid but he preferred it off since he signed the legal separation documents. It was like the ring had gone from being a symbol of his promise to something that mocked him, reminding him that he was a failure._

_"I-" he hesitated for the first time in 8 years of being married he found himself more than idly tempted. "Sorry, not interested" he told her but even he heard the uncertain note in his voice like he didn't quite feel what he said._

_"You don't look disinterested" she drawled before taking a pull of her beer._

_"It's complicated" he said as he was not going to open up his life story for her as he was pretty sure with the confidence she displayed that she could convince him to do just about anything if she put her mind to it. And his resolve to stay faithful to his wife that he was currently legally separated from was definitely starting to weaken and he didn't want to think about what that said about him as a man._

_"Life is complicated in general so let me be blunt" She said as she took his phone off the table where he had it sitting all evening hoping Christina would call him. But she hadn't and now Kate rose from Tom's seat and moved towards him with his phone in hand. "I'm not interested in a relationship. They bore interest me. But I am interested in flings. Fun, casual flings, no strings, no promises, just a really good time and very satisfying sex" she told him, she finished putting her number in the phone._

_"Think about it and if you want to indulge. Let me know" Kate said as she placed his phone on the table, she picked up her Cerveza and walked away as Tom came back with a tray plied with shots and a two fresh Cervezas._

_"Let her know what?" Tom asked as he placed the tray down and dolled out the drinks._

_"Nothing, just another number to delete" Mike said as he picked up his phone. He pretended to delete it when in fact he saved it. He clearly wasn't thinking but her invitation was enticing to own._

* * *

Present Day,

Mike scrolled his contact list of his mobile phone and stopped at 'K. Gentry' for just a moment before exiting the menu. He didn't why he bothered to carry his mobile on him. It was a bad habit to have but as he exited the contact list he stopped for a long moment looking at the background picture on the phone of his kids before he powered it down and put it back into his pocket. He made a mental note to put it back in his office as it was only serving as a distraction. One he didn't need.

He sat back in his chair and looked out at to the front window of the bridge as the ship headed towards Gitmo, His hand fisted tightly as all his expectations of returning home were blown out the water. Instead of getting closer he was now felt even further away from his family. He took a slow and steady breath as if would stem the tight knot of rage and pain within him.

They were supposed to go home and hand over Doctor Scott. But Tom had changed the mission parameters instead of chancing Mayport he decided they'd keep the doctor and get her to make the vaccine on the ship. Mike understood the decision from a tactical stand point but he that didn't stop him from hating it. He wanted to see his girls, to have one more stupid argument with Christina but the further they got away from Mayport the further away he felt himself from getting to his family.

He checked his watch and sighed as it was time to go to Dr Scott's show and tell hour. He rose from his chair and looked out to the horizon one last time before leaving the bridge.

When Mike enter the room he realised he was the last in, he closed the door behind him and moved around the group of senior officers and NCOs to stand next to Tom who gave him a side look as if to acknowledge his presence before turning his attention back to Dr Scott. It was only then he spotted Kate standing next to Doc Rios and wondered what the hell she was doing in the debriefing.

* * *

Dr Scott held the floor while her assistant Dr Tophet sat on a stool by a table with large screen computer and a laptop played image after image of people who had obviously died from exposure to the virus. The visual aids helped her get her point across to the group more clearly than if she had tried described it.

"The rules of the virus are these" Rachel said not stopping to acknowledge that Commander Slattery was late to the meeting, she gestured to some very graphic images of the virus as she spoke to the group.

She looked at them all gauging each response to make sure they understood the gravity of the situation as they would all at some point be tasked a mission off the ship or ordering others off the ship into places that have been infected by the virus.

"It's airborne which means you can get it from anyone who's a carrier, anyone manifesting the disease even a recently deceased corpse. Typical symptoms are lethargy and a cough followed by bleeding sores and haemorrhaging. Ending in dementia and total blood loss" Rachel told them, she paused briefly as she allowed them some time to digest the information.

The youngest members in the room looked a little sick and shell shocked while the more experienced members in the room either looked at her or the screen. Most looked concerned, scared while the Captain looked pensive, Commander Slattery looked angry but she was beginning to wonder if it was the man's default setting. She looked over at Kate who like herself and Tophet were the only civilians on the ship. The redhead took a sip of her tea and looked rather undisturbed by information as if Rachel had just told her the weather report. She knew not to take offence as it was just Kate's poker face.

"How long is incubation period?" Rios asked the first person to break the silence in the room. Rachel looked to him grateful for someone to talk besides her.

"3-5 days. At least that's what I understood from my last contact with the CDC" Rachel told them,

"When was that?" Mike asked, there was something goading about his tone. Rachel let it roll off her back instead of snapping at him, she took a deep breath telling herself she did deserve it for what she had gotten them all into.

"3 weeks ago when we were still up in the Arctic" Rachel told him, looking directly at Mike as she was ready to take some of his hostility but she was not going to have him metaphorically walk all over her. The only saving grace was that the Captain supported her and he would do anything to help her complete her mission to make a viable vaccine.

"Wait are-are you saying the incubation period can change?" Rios asked her. Rachel broke her gaze from Mike and turned her back to the infuriating man to speak to the doctor.

"The virus has been mutating for some time. Although now I believe now it's artificially altered it has been stabilised" Rachel explained to him, the ship's doctor nodded acknowledging her.

"You believe?" Mike asked. His disdain obvious to the room that he had little respect for had been ready to defend herself to the man but Lieutenant Green stopped her.

"What about animals?" Lieutenant Green asked. Rachel gave him a reassuring but brief smile.

"If you're concerned about Hallsey. Dogs happen to be immune other animals can't contract the disease. They just can't transmit it to humans" she informed him. Lt Green leaned down and patted his German Shepherd dog looking a little happier to know he wouldn't be losing another friend.

"I thought the birds from the Arctic were the original carriers" Mike said, Rachel turned her back to Mike and took a breath to keep her annoyance in check instead of biting his head off as she had already covered the history of the virus. But then he had been late so he missed her talk about the history of the virus, so for his sake she summarised.

"The birds were the original carriers the virus jumped probably from their faeces to a mammal before mutating and landing on us. After several mutations it was artificially altered. It is that version of the mutated strain that is currently devastating our planet" She told him.

Kate held her half full mug of tea and scratched her eyebrow with her thumb wishing that the meeting would be over. While she appreciated being in the loop about this. She really wished she hadn't learned the full extent of the virus and the less than palatable imagery of it. Ignorance was truly bliss and she wished she could erase the images of those dead victims Rachel had a screensaver on the laptop screen and the larger computer screen. Something told her it would forever linger in her mind.

"So CBR gear at all times except outside and open spaces mask can be off to preserve your oxygen" Rachel told them all, Kate made a mental note to never land the Helo in a hot spot without CBR gear on.

"And inside?" Tom asked speaking for the first time after he had handed the floor to Rachel.

"One infected person could jeopardise this entire ship…" Rachel paused " simply by breathing" she said in a deadly serious tone. It was the kind of statement that had the whole room sitting up and taking note. Kate looked around to see the younger officers exchange looks of fear. The older officers appeared to be better at holding their Poker faces as they exchanged looks but they appeared unreadable. At least to Kate anyway, she didn't linger too long at looking at them, her eyes fell to Mike and saw him raise his hand.

"Question, before we send our men into a hot zone. If the virus keeps mutating and you haven't heard from homeland in almost a month. How can you be so sure of what you're sure of?" Mike asked, Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes as only he could ask a question and make it antagonising at the same time. She also was a little glad that she wasn't the only one getting the ass end of Mike's foul manners. Four years had really brought out the worst in him.

"If I had any doubt about what I was saying. I would tell you" Rachel assured him in a firm tone.

"I would hope so" Mike replied snidely as he completely disrespected Rachel in front of everyone. Kate had to give the woman kudos for standing her ground and not looking shaken as the silence in the room was incredibly awkward. Tom, however looked unimpressed as he stood to his full height.

"Any other questions?" Tom asked the room but his tone was clear that it was a rhetorical question and when he was met with silence he gave a nod. "Ok, then. Dismissed" he told them, the room slowly emptied out and Rachel turned her back to them and pretended to be busy with the computers.

"For what it's worth, he's been an asshole to me even since I stepped on board" Kate said to her as she stepped forward.

"The man is insufferable" Rachel said looking a little flustered.

"He wasn't always like that. It's just a bad time for everyone" Kate said.

"Yes, but that is not a valid excuse for him to disrespect me in front of the other officers" Rachel told her. Kate gave her a sympathetic smile as she didn't have the answers nor the patience to defend Mike.

* * *

The following morning,

The ship made port at Gitmo. Grodin and Lange had gotten up before dawn with the Flight deck crew to get ready. Kate spent part of her time with Helo and then the other half in the wardroom with Lt. Granderson the Navigator, Ensign Mason who would be her comms. Officer and the Captain plotting out the most efficient flight plan for the morning.

Once the sun rose over the horizon, Kate returned to the now empty Helo bay in her flight suit relaying the information of their flight plan and current weather conditions that had been registered in CIC to Lange and Grodin.

"Not to sound petulant but isn't it my turn to be pilot?" Grodin asked Kate after she finished her briefing, she shot Lange a look of incredulity before she looked to Grodin.

"It would have been but right now is not the time for you to be practising. I've been fair with you getting your flight hours but given the current climate and that we're possibly flying in hostile territory, I'm taking lead" she told him in a firm tone hoping he'd get the memo that it was not up for negotiation but Grodin felt otherwise.

"How am I supposed to learn?" Grodin asked her. Kate gave a tight smile as her patience was running rather thin with him.

"When we have more than one Helo, more than one pilot who can teach you. Then we'll talk about you taking lead on flights that have a potentially high risk of danger. Ok?" she asked him, but Grodin gave her a petulant look that said he was going to push it.

"What about CBR gear?" Grodin asked at this point Lange mumbled something about getting his preflight duties started and went off to the Helo that sat outside.

"Suits are all spoken for and we have orders to not land anywhere but the Nathan James. If you're uncomfortable-" Kate was going to say if he was uncomfortable with the idea of not having CBR gear then he could stay behind but was interrupted before she could.

"What's the hold up?" Mike asked, he walked over to them, dressed in his usual BDUs carrying a mug of coffee looking like he was in a good mood, hell he just looked good period and as he got closer the aroma of coffee wafted lovingly in the air capturing Kate's attention as she really wished the Helo had cup holders. She had not had enough caffeine this morning to satisfy herself.

"We've just finished our briefing, Sir" Grodin said donning his professional manner. Kate's attention snapped away from the coffee fantasy she was having as Grodin's deep respect and courteous nature towards Mike hit a raw nerve.

"Then what are you doing standing here?" Mike asked him in a patronising manner. Kate wished she could just capture Mike's ability to make Grodin her bitch because in true form the Lieutenant stood straighter and gave the man his attention and respect. Something Grodin lacked when he was around her.

"Go, get the preflight checklist prepped. I'll be there in a moment" Kate told Grodin. The Lieutenant looked to Mike who gave him a dismissive nod of the head and Kate blew out an agitated breath as Grodin practically ran for the Helo just to satisfy his superior officer.

"That's getting old" Kate muttered under her breath as she watched the Lieutenant run off to the Helo.

"You got issues with your co-pilot?" Mike asked stepping closer to her, Kate gave him a droll look because he was stating the obvious. She was also annoyed at how good he and the coffee smelt so good together. _Why couldn't he had kept his distance?_ She thought...

"Lassiter" he prompted.

"Sorry?" she asked mentally kicking herself for being distracted. "Yes, we have issues" Kate said thought she was pretty sure there wasn't one aspect of her life that didn't lack issues at the moment.

"Well you should sort it out since you two are going to be working together for a while" Mike advised her, Kate's lips thinned out into a fine line as she wished she could tell him to cram his useless advice where the sun didn't shine. But she didn't because she didn't have the time and frankly her thoughts were a little scattered from standing so close to him with fresh coffee in grabbing distance. So she took a different tactic.

"I could say the same for us. When are we going to talk?" Kate asked mockingly as she looked up him, He looked down at her and their eyes locked. His expression softened for just a moment and her heart skipped a beat because for one second she saw the man she had loved looking back at her. But as soon as she saw it his expression hardened again as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You ready to go?" he asked in a curt tone. Her question completely ignored.

"You should know from experience that I'm always ready Commander" she said glibly, before she looked out the open Helo bay door taking in the view, not wanting to look at him. "But I have to say I got a bad gut feeling about this" She told him in all honesty.

"Yeah well I've had that feeling ever since you stepped foot on the James" He told her, Kate threw a sardonic smile at him.

"Well Commander, for your sake I hope you have a good supply of buscopan cause I'm going to be on the James for the foreseeable future. Now if you'll excuse me" Kate said, she didn't wait for an answer as she ran out the Helo Bay before he get any more jibes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

20 minutes later,

"Coming over Gitmo now" Grodin said informing the ship as it was his job to give them the running commentary on what they were seeing even though they clearly knew what was going on as they were looking at the same feeds as Grodin. But Kate kept her mouth shut.

Kate guided the Helo in a slow and steady search pattern over the Guatanamo Bay, she had never been to this part of Cuba before so flying over the area was foreign to her as well as incredibly eerie. It did nothing to ease the bad feeling in her gut, she felt like something was off but there was nothing to corroborate her 'feeling'. The ground below was disturbingly still, there was nothing, no people, no visible dead bodies.

Just a lot of abandoned and damaged cars, the perimeter fences looked to have been damaged in places but still mostly intact. Other than that there nothing to suggest an obvious danger to mission the Captain wanted to Green light.

As they slowly flew over the area, Kate listened as Lange and Grodin reported back to the ship.

"Negative visual contact. Negative movement. Same on thermals" Lange said,"Zero copy. Zero ground movement" he added a moment later as they continued to pass over area giving the ship live visuals of the ground.

* * *

40 minutes later,

"It's like a Ghost town, shouldn't there be bodies?" Grodin asked as they had finished the main part of their duties and been given some air time for Grodin to practise flying while the ground teams went to work. So they were now flying over the outer areas of the camp to see if there were any signs of survivors holding up nearby. Kate had allowed him to take over as there was nothing to suggest any danger to them and so she was allowing the kid time to practice his flying.

"Not if they were inside" Lange said from the back. Kate had the beginnings of headache as the two men had been yapping non stop and speculating about what happened to the camp. It was a waste of time, especially when it was obvious the base had been vacated in a panic. The cars had been abandoned and the camp left to waste away. The perimeter fence had already started to deteriorate as it had collapsed over on the south west of the camp. There was nothing on thermal imagining except for animal wildlife and even that was scarce.

"Well one of them had to of died outside" Grodin argued.

"Maybe the carrion got to the bodies and their bones are now spread to all the corners of Cuba" Kate said in a mocking tone, she just wanted them to stop before they started speculating that it was a zombie apocalypse. The comm spurred to life as Comm officer Ensign Mason spoke to them.

"_Helo One be advised hostiles are operating on the base employing IEDs, XO has ordered a thermal sweep of the area"_ he said.

"Copy that, stand by" Kate told him, Mason acknowledge the response and she looked to Grodin. "We're closest to scanning Cobra team's area, we'll search pattern 'Delta'." Kate told Grodin. It was a search pattern they had already used but then Grodin hadn't been piloting and right now she felt the risk assessment for them was 'Low' so she didn't bother taking over controls.

"Shouldn't we land the Helo and wait for situation to be resolved." He said. Kate looked at him incredulously.

"Don't be stupid, we don't have CBR gear and anyway I can't think of anyone being able to throw a bomb to the altitude we're at." Kate told him in a sceptical tone. Grodin swallowed nervously and nodded, before he took the Helo on a wide turn to move them into position to start the search.

* * *

_"Nathan James, Vulture One be advised Hostiles are armed with RPGs appear to be enroute to your whisky"_ Tom said over the comm. Mike immediately made the call the Tiger team to cease the refuel and then picked on the comm. receiver for CIC and ordered the Helo to return to ship immediately.

* * *

"Did he say RPGs?" Grodin asked, Kate's stress levels spiked as the man was in control of the Helo and obviously starting to panic.

"Yes" Kate said as stressed as she felt, she kept her cool facade in check because she couldn't see the point in lying to Grodin or panicking.

"Shit, we need to get out of here" Grodin said, sounding completely irrational to Kate who looked at him cynically.

"Just keep it together Grodin and take us up a few more feet and we should be out of firing range and be able to do a thermal sweep the area before you land the Helo back on the James" Kate said calmly as she looked down at the screens that were playing a live feed of the thermal scan of the area but the higher they went the harder it would be to decipher an animal from a human as they all looked like small red blobs.

"Should be out of range?" Grodin asked doubt tainted his voice.

"Just do as I say as it will make you more comfortable. Anyway an RPG weapon's range is about 200 meters that's before the grenade detonates. We are already well out of its range. Something you should already know and have calculated. Now focus Grodin" Kate told him.

* * *

On the Nathan James,

"Sir, there is a situation with the Helo One. They are currently not responding to comms and is drifting off course" Mason said over the comm line while Mike waited for CIC to give him targeting solution on the kill maintenance terminal.

"When it rains it fucking pours" Mike mumbled under his breath as he really didn't need anything more on his plate right now. "Patch me in to the Helo comms" he said to Mason. The comm officer did as ordered and piped the comm line into the mix with the other open channels. They normally kept the Helo comm line separate as their mission was running parallel to most of their missions and thus they usually clogged up the radio waves with intel that was mostly redundant for those on the ground. The bridge filled with the chatter of Helo. He listened along with the whole crew as Kate ordered the Lieutenant to change course immediately and return to the James. Feeling like a little redundant as there was nothing he could from the ship, he still acted.

"Helo One, you are currently off course. What is your Sit Rep?" He asked knowing full well that he was getting all his answers. Grodin had lost his head and Kate was trying in a calm tone to get the Lieutenant under control but failing miserably. He waited patiently for a fulll 5 seconds as his focus was between what was happening with the three parties on the ground and with the Helo up in the sky. The men and the women in the room were already targeting a shed just on the side of the fuel Pier. He was just waiting until the target was locked before he gave the order to fire.

"Helo One, respond?" Mike said when they didn't get a response from the cockpit after his third call. He did not like being ignored. "Mason, can they hear me?" he asked.

"I don't know Sir, but their current trajectory takes them away from Gitmo and the ship" Mason told them. It was enough to know they would not be in the James's weapons range while dealing with the hostiles at the fuel pier so it made his decision easier.

"Cut their channel" Mike ordered and the chatter from the Helo ceased to clog the line. Abandoning them as it was a game of numbers, they weren't in imminent danger like he and the ship with a compliment of crew were.

_"They're going for the fuel tank they're going to blow the whole ship!"_ Chief Engineer shouted over the comm as soon as the Helo chatter cut out.

"CIC to Bridge, where's my target acquisition?" Mike demanded, as they needed to secure the fuel pier immediately.

_"Bridge, surface target is acquired" _CIC returned.

"Fire" Mike ordered.

* * *

A large explosion near the fuel pier caught Grodin's attention for just a moment and Kate took it as she switched the Helo into Autopilot. Helo dipped in the exchange of control from Grodin to the computer. The man noticed and when he went to change it back, Kate grabbed his index finger and pulled it and his hand back in a violent wrench.

"You want to go off the reservation? Get your own damn Helo and fly off into the sunset. This ride is mine. Now do I have to dislocate your finger or will you comply?" Kate asked him. Grodin groaned in pain as she pulled his finger back to make her point clear as he wasn't listening to reason.

When the call from the James about the hostiles and RPGs, Grodin had panicked and started yabbering that they needed to get away and land the helo a safe distance away and wait it out. Obviously from his years as kid with playstation he hadn't desensitized him enough or maybe he just didn't understood that the flight simulations and training were supposed to prepare him for the reality before he was in the situation like now. She didn't even get why he was stressed out, sure there were terrorists on the ground with RPGs but they were heading to the James, an unarmed Helo had to be considered a low priority otherwise they would have been blown out of sky already.

She tugged his finger again so he would answer.

"Yes" he grunted out, his voice filled with pain.

"Yes, what?" Kate asked feeling vindictive in making her point.

"Yes, Ma'am" he said through gritted teeth, Kate released his finger immediately and exchanged control off auto pilot to her and changed course back to the James.

"James, apologies for the delay. We are back on course and touchdown in less than 3 minutes" Kate said over the comm.

"_Copy that."_ Mason said before he gave them new orders that once they landed they would be taking Doc Rios out. Kate kept her eyes forward and focussed on the job even though she wanted to throttle Grodin.

* * *

Less than 3 minutes later,

"_Touch Down" _came over the comm, just as Kate felt the soft thud of the Helo touching the deck. She powered the engine down slightly and the Rotor blades slowed into a rhythmic pattern much like a calm heartbeat. It was usually a soothing noise that Kate enjoyed but right now it did nothing for her.

"Grodin, get off the Helo" Kate told Grodin in firm tone as she was angry and right now they had only a few minutes to bring Rios and a trio of armed soldiers on board and take him to the fuel pier to medivac the Chief Engineer back to the ship. Something she refused to do with Grodin on the Helo acting as her Co-Pilot.

"I said I was sorry" he said. Yes, he had said 'Sorry' but it had only made Kate even madder than she was before because his apology was empty and insincere. Frankly she wanted to break his nose but right now was not the best time.

"Yeah and you'll truly mean it, then you will get off the Helo now" she said, her tone was dark and had a hint of warning which obviously was too subtle for Grodin. As he hadn't budged an inch.

"We're just about to go up again. We can talk after the mission is finished. Right now you need me" Grodin told her in patronizing tone. Kate felt the last of her patience evaporate and with little thought pulled the sidearm Tom had given her for 'safety reasons' and pointed it at Grodin.

"Get out. Now" Kate told him. Grodin's eyes went wide as he saw the gun.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" he exclaimed, as he reared back in his chair, with his hands up in surrender.

"I'm giving you one and only one warning. You have 15 seconds to get off the Helo. If you don't I will shoot you." Kate warned him. He looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" he shouted at her. She narrowed her eyes at him and lifted her chin in defiance as if demanding him to challenge her.

"Yeah, I am. So when you file your long list of grievances to the Captain please use my full name. Kathryn Lassiter. K-A-T-H-R-Y-N. L-A-S-S-I-T-E-R. Now get the fuck off the Helo. Your 15 seconds start now" Kate told him in a calm and somewhat cold manner. Several tense moments passed and the radio went nuts as the bridge wanted to know why they hadn't taken on the Rios and his team yet.

"Fine! I'm going!" Grodin told her as Kate had reach the number 5 in head. Grodin unstrapped himself from his chair and got out of the Helo. When Kate saw him run across the flight deck, she holstered her side arm and turned to Lange.

"We good?" Lange asked her, as he had been communicating with the Bridge the entire time. They seemed more concern with getting Rios to the fuel station than the situation on the Helo. _For now.. _Kate thought grimly.

"Peachy, let's get the Doc and the others on board and get this over with" Kate told him, Lange gave a nod and rose from his seat in the back to the open back door.

"I hear you" he said as he waved Doc Rios and 3 soldiers all in full CBR gear onto the Helo.

* * *

A couple hours later,

"_.. Nathan James will get underway at 1700, All departments are to make mand special reports for the XO on the bridge_" Played on the P.A. system of the ship as Kate left the Helo bay ready for a quick hot shower and a meal of whatever was on offer.

She hadn't seen Grodin or have Tom or Mike approach her about what happened. She had kind of expected Mike to pop up but then she remembered that she was pretty low on the priority list as the ship was being resupplied with food, fuel, weaponry and what else they felt they might need in the foreseeable future. Kate was glad they had brought in supplies for the Helo. Either way the ship buzzing with activity this made navigating the hallways a little more hectic than usual.

She had unzipped her flight suit and shrugged out of the top half tying the sleeves low around her hips, she shook out her tank top as it stuck to her with the sweat of the past mission. Shower was definitely at the top of her current priority list as she made it down the hallway towards the part of the ship where her quarters were. All the while she was mentally preparing herself for when she would be yelled out by the Captain or Mike when a familiar voice bellowed from behind her; caught her attention.

"Red!" He shouted again and Kate stopped in her spot and turned around to the source. There just a few feet away from her a man she never thought she'd see again appeared in the flesh. Her jaw dropped in shock as Tex Nolan appeared from behind a crewman.

"Tex?" Kate asked in disbelief as she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not as she hadn't seen the man since her husband's funeral. Last she heard he went back to Iraq to be a member of a private security team for a Senator doing a tour of the area but then that was over a year ago.

They exchanged emails, mostly him seeing if she was still alive but it was always superficial and he never told her what he was up to and she figured he was dead like everyone else she knew.

"Yeah, it's me" he told her with his ever cocky grin and chuckle, Kate walked up to him, not able to wipe the wide smile on her face.

"You're alive" she said amazed that he was here. She grabbed the shoulder straps of his Kevlar vest and gave them a playful tug as if testing to be completely sure he was real. He gave a slight groan of pain and Kate looked at him in confusion and then saw the small patch of blood the flank of his vest.

"You're hurt" she said with concern as she stated the obvious.

"Just a scratch" he assured her "and rest assured I'm definitely alive" he told her with a smile, yeah he definitely was as he was hot, sweaty and definitely in need of a shower but it didn't hamper how incredibly happy she was to see him alive.

"Permission to hug?" he asked in a mock serious tone. Kate gave a chuckle and nodded.

"Granted" she said, his arms came around her torso she wrapped her arms his neck. He gave her a tight hug lifting her up to her tip toes. The advantages of him being a few centimetres taller than her mean he didn't have the leverage of height to pull her off her feet. He gave lowered her down until her feet touched the floor and released her just a little so she could lean back in his arms and look at him.

"You got skinny" he said with concern, Kate made a face as it was his usual complaint whenever he saw her. "You been eating?" he asked her. she made a derisive noise and shook her head at his mother hen routine.

"Yes, but I haven't had a beer in over a year" She told him, he looked shocked but then she had been a decent drinker her whole adult life until a few months after Jack's death where she couldn't help but notice she wasn't drinking because she enjoyed it like she used to.

"Did they revoke your Australian citizenship for that?" he teased her, Kate playfully punched his arm, he released her and went to rub his arm like it hurt.

"Get lost" she retorted, a smile still on her lips.

"Is that a direct order?" he said mock serious tone.

"I'm not your boss" Kate told him in an annoyed tone.

"Technically you are since you inherited Jack's half of the business" Tex reminded her, it was technically 45% of the company and Kate hadn't given it a lot of thought as she never saw it as rightfully hers. She had been planning to gift it back Evan but never got around to it in the mess of her grief and then work got in the way.

"Speaking of business; what are you doing here? How did you survive?" she asked him.

"A long story which I'll share with you over Dinner after I've had a shower?" he asked her, his tone hopeful.

"Yeah sure as long as you go to medical" Kate told him. He made a face as he like most men didn't put up a fuss about their injuries until they had a pretty nurse to tend to them. Tex knew that Kate was possibly the worst nurse to have as she lacked a 'tender' hand and apparently her lack of patience for fools make her bedside manner unwelcoming which was why he didn't play up the injury in front of her.

"I don't need medical" he said dismissively.

"I'll make it order since you want me to be your boss" Kate said with a hint of salaciousness as mild flirtation with Tex was fun and they both were about as sexually interested in one another as a goat was attracted to cat.

"I like it when you get feisty on me" He told her.

"I'll drag you to medical by your ear like you're a three year old and enjoy every minute of it" she told him.

"Ok, I'm going" he told her.

* * *

An hour later,

"I've made myself presentable, early dinner?" Tex asked when Kate opened the door to her quarters to find Tex. He looked cleaner and as she stepped closer to him she gave a test sniff of the air.

"You do smell better" She commented, he chuckled as he stepped back to let her out. "How did you find me?" she asked as she started walking down the hallway with Tex following her.

"Dr Scott, told me after she so lovingly tended to my wound. Do you want to see it?" he asked her, Kate threw a mocking look over her shoulder at him before she stepped the side to let a crew member pass by her.

"Did she put a sesame street band aid on it?" Kate asked mockingly as they took the stairs to an upper level of the ship. Tex chuckled, and followed her as she navigated the ship and kept out of the crew members way as they passed their way.

"No, but seriously we need to talk" he told her, Kate stopped and turned at his serious tone to give him her full attention but kept an ear open to make sure if anyone came their way she could step out of the way.

"What about?" she asked wondering what bombshell he was going to drop on her. After the last few weeks she was ready to celebrate the success of Gitmo before the grim and depressing situation of their world sunk in again. Judging by Tex's expression he was about to give her some bad news.

"It's the issue of my back pay?" he said in all seriousness, Kate's jaw dropped in shock because of all the things he could have said to her. He brought up back pay, and he looked dead serious until he cracked a smile. Kate gave an aggravated groan and shook her head at him.

"Not cool" She told him annoyed that he had completely suckered her in.

"Hey, I'm serious" he said mockingly but the smile remained on his face, she was tempted to punch him in the arm but folded her arms instead.

"Oh ok, you want back pay. Just give me your time sheets for the past 5 months and I'll write you a cheque" Kate drawled sarcastically.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

"Lassiter" Mike said as he came into the Wardroom, he was only making a quick coffee stop and break from the bridge while the Captain and the others were gearing up to go to Fu Fu Cantina to meet up with the Russians. Mike felt it was a bad idea but then it was the Captain's decision and who was he to disobey an order.

"Commander Slattery" Kate said as she continued typing away at the daily log she was making on her laptop. Not that it mattered any more but she found comfort in the mundane activity. Plus after Tex was taken away for some mission, so she needed something to occupy her time as she said she'd wait to have dinner with him when he returned.

"Want to tell me what the hell happened out there today?" he asked, wishing he hadn't brought it up as he truly hadn't as he didn't have the time but yet having the wardroom to themselves was a rare situation. So he filled up his cup with coffee.

"Didn't Grodin write you a love letter about it?" Kate asked sarcastically as she didn't look up from what she was writing.

"You mean the official complaint against you?" Mike asked for clarification as he sat down next to her at the table. She knew he was using one of his old cop interrogation tricks on her as he was using his close proximity to distract her which sadly was working because when she took a deep breath, all she could smell of fresh coffee and his clean scent of soap and something uniquely male that was Mike. It was intoxicating as it reminded her of late breakfast in bed, naked- Kate cleared her throat and gave a slight shake of her head as if to shake the thoughts away before she spoke.

"Yes, I'm hoping that he spelt my name correctly as I did spell it out nice and slow for him" Kate said in a droll tone. Annoyed that she was always affected by that combination of scents. Just like this morning, he obviously knew the effect which why he was using it against her now.

"Could you take the attitude down a few notches and talk to me?" Mike asked somewhat politely, it immediately rang alarm bells in Kate's head as he was never polite. Snide; yes, Passive aggressive; definitely. She didn't know why but she suddenly felt very suspicious and uncomfortable by the change of pace.

"I could" she said carefully avoiding eye contact with him. If he could read her mind and see all the dirty thoughts she was having. _You're husband id dead for nearly 18 months and now you're ready for action? I think not, pull it together. He's fucking married... _Kate said mentally slapping herself.

"Kate" he prompted annoyed, he used the tone he saved for when his kids did something wrong and wouldn't give him their attention because they didn't want to be punished.

"Fine" she said frustrated, she closed the laptop and looked directly at him. He saw the exhaustion and resignation writ in her expression. "You know I remember when you used to say my name with a little less hostility" she told him as she gave him her full attention. If he was going to make her uncomfortable then he wasn't going to make it easy on him.

"Could you act like an adult?" He asked her. She glared at him for a long moment in pure defiance before she gave a nod.

"Yes, I can as soon as you speak to me as if I am one" She told him somewhat petulantly.

"What happened today was not acceptable behaviour" Mike told her. Kate sat back in her chair and threw her hands up in a 'what could I do' gesture.

"I know and accept full responsibility for my actions" She said, He was surprised she had admitted as much but then she hadn't exactly apologised. Though he didn't know why he wanted her to apologise, it wasn't necessary but a part of him just wanted to hear her say the words.

"What no excuses?" He asked in slight disbelief, he had glanced over Grodin and Lange's reports. Lange was just an observer to the situation while Grodin who was originally at fault was filled to brim with excuses for his behaviour. Hence why Mike had only glanced as he really had no patience for excuses. Yet he had expected Kate to complain or at least expound on her side of the story.

"Would you believe me over one of your own?" she said her tone dripping with contempt.

"What does that mean?" He asked narrowing his eyes at her not liking her tone or her unveiled accusation of favouritism. Sure he was an asshole to her but it was easier to keep her at arm's length that way. But in no way had he shown favouritism to Grodin over her. Hell, he preferred dealing with her as she seemed to know how to keep her emotions checked while they were on the clock.

"You know exactly what I mean. You got all the details from Grodin, Mason and Lange first before you even consider coming to me first which says to you already made up your mind who is at fault before seeing me or hearing me out" Kate said defending herself, she hated how he was looking at her. Even after all the months of making her feel small, she thought she'd become immune to it. To him but apparently he was her soft spot.

"It's called 'due diligence' and I don't make any judgements until I know all the facts" he told her, Kate made a derisive noise as she was definitely sure he made up his mind about her ages ago.

"Right" Kate scoffed with a roll of the eyes. He shook his head at her.

"What is wrong with you?" Mike asked her, the words slipped out on their own volition as she was not the woman he remembered. She gave a huff of indignation at his question.

"That's rich coming from you." Kate said somewhat scathingly. Mike was about to say something but she continued on "Look Grodin panicked and could have killed Lange and I. So I wasn't comfortable flying into dangerous situation as him as my co-pilot once we landed. So yes, I was excessive with getting him to haul ass off the Helo and yes, I would have shot him because my CO once told me you should never make empty threats. Are you happy now?" She asked him.

_"XO to the Bridge" _Played over the P.A. reminding Mike; he had somewhere else to be.

"Estatic. Now was that so hard?" He asked rising from his seat as he had told Lt Granderson that he'd been gone for just a couple of minutes. He hadn't meant to start a conversation with Kate.

"Intolerably so. Are we done?" Kate asked him, suddenly feeling exhausted by it all. Mike looked at her for a moment and felt himself soften as he hated seeing her look so beaten and exhausted. Kate looked up at him and could have sworn he looked at her with what looked vaguely like concern. Concern in Kate's world usually led to pity and she would not have Mike Slattery pity her, she'd rather have him be a passive aggressive jerk.

"For now, and the Helo is grounded until you and Grodin can learn to play nice together" Mike told her, he left the wardroom before she could draw him into an argument and headed back to the bridge.

* * *

Two hours later, Night had fallen and the ship was still on General Quarters. Kate from her position in the wardroom was able to discern what was going on. That a Russian Naval Ship was blocking the entrance to the bay and that the Admiral in charge of the Russian ship was one cold operator. Or so Tex had told her when he returned with the others. He had spent most of their meal filling her in on everything that had happened and as they had dinner; a few of the other officers who drifted in for a quick meal filled in the rest with up to date details which was not much at the moment. It was apparently a stand off where both sides were waiting for the other side to fire the first shot.

Kate wondered where Rachel was but figured the woman was waiting until later in the evening to get dinner that way to minimise her interaction with the crew. Considering Rachel was wanted by the Russians and not exactly well liked, Kate could understand her hiding away. It was a shame as Kate found Tex to be enjoyable company and after being so reclusive from the crew herself. Kate found it nice to socialise and figured Rachel had to be due a lab break.

"Here" Tex said as he placed a can of beer on the table in front of Kate. Her eyes went wide as she hadn't a beer in nearly 5 months, normally she preferred her beer to be full strength of a German or Australian produced beer or an Irish ale. But right now the light american beer was tempting.

"Ah you can't drink alcohol in the wardroom" Lieutenant Green said as he broke through Kate's thoughts as she was bargaining with herself to lower her standards just to drink the beer when Green's warning reminded her that Mike was in charge of the Wardroom. He was 'Mess President' and he had declared the wardroom from day one to be a dry zone and he also made a list of conversation topics not allowed to be discussed. It was the usual topics of politics, religion and sex.

"Technically, we're not members of the crew and I didn't hear you" Tex told Green as if it would exempt them from the rules.

"He is right, we're the guests and as such have to follow the rules" Kate told Tex as she reluctantly pushed the beer away from her.

"Then we'll take it to deck. I got some nice Cubans here. Celebrate that we are alive" He said as he pulled two cigars out of his shirt pocket and waved them in her direction as he could entice her to indulge. She shook her head.

"I quit smoking ages ago" Kate informed him. He blinked for a moment in disbelief and then smiled as if she had laid down a challenge for him.

"Take a whiff of that" he said holding it out to her nose. Kate snatched the cigars out of his hand to stop him from waving it in her face. She took the cigars and held them together with her fingers at each end and brought it to her nose. She took a slow inhale and exhale. The scent of the cigar was intoxicating in itself as the rich scent reminded her of better times. It was purely a nostalgic thing for her.

"Hmm smells like heaven and hell" Kate told him. Tex smiled as he cracked his can of beer open.

"So, we going to the deck? Beers and cigars" he said. Kate shook her head and passed the cigars back to her.

"No to the cigars, because one day you're going to run out and I'm not going through withdrawals again but I will accompany you to the deck so you're not drinking alone" she told Tex.

"Lieutenant Green?" Tex asked giving the Lieutenant an invitation to the party but the man made a weird face and shook his head.

"I'm good" the man said as he held up his half a glass of water. Kate chuckled and nudged Tex's arm.

"Come on Tex, he's too clean cut for beers and cigars" Kate said in a teasing manner as she picked up her can of beer and held it between her hands. It was so tempting to crack it open but no way was she going bring more trouble on herself. Why give Mike ammunition to throw at her.

"We're on GQ" Lieutenant Green said somewhat defensively and Kate quirked an eyebrow as the guy was too quick to react even to a little teasing. She could only imagine how much fun the guy would have been during basic and sincerely glad she hadn't been there. He truly needed to lighten up.

"You are." Kate clarified to Green that he was on 'Alert' status. "I'm grounded for the foreseeable future and I don't know what your excuse is" Kate said to Tex. The man gave a shrug.

"Do I need one?" Tex asked Kate, he frowned as he like Kate followed the rule of when you're off duty it's time to hit the bar and when you're on a ship. There wasn't exactly a bar tucked away for a quiet beer. So he procured beer and figured the wardroom would do or so Kate assumed.

"I don't know" Kate answered honestly.

"And why are you grounded?" Tex asked as he placed his beer on the table letting it sit for a bit.

"Boring story" Kate said as she picked up his beer and took a sip and then made a face "Ugh it's warm" she complained as she gave his beer back to him. Immensely glad she hadn't open hers as the beer was awful.

"It wasn't chilled. If you don't want yours now" Tex drawled as he went for her unopened can.

"Hey, let's not get too hasty." Kate held her beer close to her body as if protecting it. "One day I'll be desperate for mediocre American beer-" Kate started but Green cut her off.

"Hey!" Green said offended by her remark.

"Just let it go, if there's one thing I've learned about Kate. It's that you should never argue with a redhead. They are downright scary when you anger them"

"I take offence to that stereotype" Kate grumbled in good humour.

"Sure you want the mediocre beer?" Tex asked her teasingly.

"Yes, if I can eat fried tarantula then I can drink this tepid American beer" Kate informed him in a slight haut tone. Tex laughed and then took a sip of his beer, the door to the Wardroom opened and Tom stepped into the room. Lieutenant Green rose from his chair out of deference while Kate and Tex lounged in their chairs. Tom nodded to the Lieutenant to take his seat before he turned his attention to Kate and Tex; more importantly the beer in the wardroom which was a big 'no-no'.

"Captain, can I offer you a beer?" Tex asked in a good natured fashion.

"No, thanks I'm on duty" and you're not allowed to drink alcohol in the wardroom or on the ship" Tom told him as he went to the coffee pot and proceeded to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Tell me Captain, is it true that I've made a faux pas in bringing a beer in here?" Tex asked curiously in not a little mockingly. The man seemed solid at his job and he had to admit that he had not seen a link between Kate and Tex until he heard through grapevine about how the two worked for Lassiter Industries. He idly wondered how well the two knew one another.

"Yes, there are rules on this ship which extend to the crew and civilian subcontractors. The wardroom is a dry zone" Tom informed him.

"Mine is unopened" Kate said to Tom. To make it clear she was technically not breaking any rules.

"Turncoat" Tex said dryly as Kate gave him a closed lip smile and a shrug. It had to be the first genuine smile Kate had worn in Tom's presence since boarding the ship.

"Finish up the beer but it's your last until we have on shore R&R" Tom informed Tex. The man nodded as he picked up his beer and took a sip.

"Hopefully by then all the beer should be chilled" Kate quipped.

"Speaking being chilled. XO talk you about the Helo being grounded?" Tom asked Kate, the woman nodded.

"Yes" she said not impressed by the decision obviously but resigned to it.

"Good, last thing I need is the Russians using you as target practice" Tom said, he noted a moment of slight confusion on her face before she nodded again in agreement with him.

"Uh yeah, I agree" Kate said, not sure how to answer as Mike had said nothing about her being grounded having anything to do with the Russians. The man had purposefully left her out of the loop even though she shouldn't be she was surprised at Mike's underhandedness. "Speaking of the Russians, what's the plan?" Kate asked.

"Still working on it" Tom said.

* * *

The next day,

Kate parked herself on the lounge in one of the recreation rooms. It was empty due to ship still being on General Quarters. All ship personnel were either at their stations or getting rest as they needed to stay sharp. Kate being grounded and thus useless as the Helo was not armed for war, she was watching movies until she got bored and then she'd hit the gym. There wasn't much else she could do. She was sure there was a plan in the works on how to get away from the Russians but she was not privy to any of it.

"Hey, what you watching?" Tex asked as he came into the room. He sat himself down on the lounge next to her and looked to screen.

"Operation Petticoat" Kate said, the ship's media library was filled to the brim with movies and TV shows, a lot of them were unsurprisingly Naval related.

"Any good?" Tex asked as he stepped over her legs as her feet were propped on the coffee table as she ate a bag of chips.

"It's alright, it has Cary Grant in it" Kate said with a shrug as she watched the screen and ate a chip.

"Why do women like him?" Tex asked. Tex was obviously one of those people who liked to talk through the movie, or so Kate was assuming as they never had a chance to do such an activity together until now.

"Why do you like McHale's Navy?" Kate asked him, she offered him a chip.

"It's a classic" Tex informed her as if she would be stupid to think otherwise. He snagged a chip and ate it while he looked up at the screen.

"Cary Grant is self deprecating, he also has a sexy voice and kind eyes" She told Tex, she looked at him with a smile as he frowned and stood up abruptly.

"Alright. I'm going to the gym" he told her.

"Bailing out on me?" Kate asked mockingly.

"A movie with a pink submarine? Yes and I don't want to sit here and talk about men. So I'm out of here before you ask me to start braiding your hair" he told her.

"What not interested in a pillow fight?" Kate asked mockingly.

"With the way you punch? I'd probably end up with a concussion" Tex told her, Kate laughed.

"Fine, go" She told him. He stepped over her legs as he made his way to the exit. He stopped at the door and turned back to her.

"Are you really going to sit here all day and watch movies?" he asked her, Kate looked over to him and gave a shrug.

"Not much else for me to do. I'm not exactly in the loop of what's going on with the ship" Kate told him.

"Really? I thought you'd be in the thick of it" He said surprised.

"I'm qualified to do one thing on this ship and it's fly a Helo." Kate told him.

"You're a damn good soldier" he told her.

"Yeah me and every other person on this ship is a soldier but I am an outsider." Kate said, she looked at him for a minute as he pondered her statement. "Hey, you ok?" she asked him feeling remiss as a friend for not asking him sooner.

"Yeah" he said.

"I mean about what happened in Gitmo before the Nathan James arrived. We haven't talked about it yet" Kate said referring to Tex's friends that had been killed. They hadn't even had a informal funeral to acknowledge his loss. In fact he had glossed over the details completely.

"Fine" he said a little too tightly. Kate knew from the response he was in fact the opposite but he wasn't ready to open up and she was not going to push it.

"If you ever want to talk. I'm here" she told him. He gave her a smile as it was an offer he extended to her when Jack had died.

"I'll keep that in mind" he said before he left Kate to her movie.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

"Hey, get up" Tex told her. Kate had been sleeping through a shockingly boring movie when Tex nudged her feet off the coffee table, waking her with a start when her feet thumped to the floor.

"What's going on?" Kate asked as she stretched her arms above her head and stretched. She was wondering if she was beginning to learn to sleep through the alarms as Tex looked piss which meant something serious had happened as he was a rather even tempered person.

"Follow me" he said, she followed him in silence until they were standing at the back of the ship. Tex gripped the railing and looked out to the horizon as a rig with what looked like 6 or 7 people went zooming across the water.

"See that rig out there?" Tex asked her. Kate watched the rig grow smaller as it moved farther away from the ship.

"Yeah" Kate said, not sure why it was significant to Tex. She turned her back to the view and leaned against the railing and looked at Tex.

"They are searching for two bodies, Lieutenant Green lost two of his men." Tex told her. Kate felt bad for the Lieutenant as he had lost all of his team bar one man and the dog. That was some shit luck the man had or good if you looked at it in the way that he was still alive. Either way she wasn't going to comment out loud on the subject.

"Russians?" Kate asked knowing that it was the most logical conclusion as Lieutenant Green's men were not inept at their jobs.

"Yeah, we were surveying the canal to use it as an exit strategy from the bay to avoid a confrontation with thr Russians when they sent a team to kill our guys and the Captain let them get away with it" Tex told her, his anger quite evident as he obviously disagreed with the Captains decision.

"I'm sure there was more to it than that" Kate told him as she knew there was more to the story than Tex was sharing.

"Yeah, it's all about making a point when we should have blown their guys out of the water. We're living in a Dog eat dog world now and he wants to negotiate" he said in angry disdain.

"Is this really about what happened just right now?" Kate asked him, she didn't know all the dirty details of what happened in Gitmo the months he and his team were there. But she did know, that he released high value prisoners thinking of giving them a chance due to the current world climate. Only to have said decision to be turned against him. His team, his friends were dead because of one decision to be humane, when others would have just killed the prisoners and hauled up for rescue. She knew it would have been a democratic decision to release the prisoners but that obviously didn't absolve him from his guilt otherwise he wouldn't be so angry right now.

"What you mean?" he asked obviously not making the connection, Kate gave him a look.

"I'll be blunt. You let the prisoners go and they turned on you and your team. Do you not see how this correlates to now?" Kate asked him, she could see that Tex was leaning towards a more biblical stand point of an eye for an eye. Something that never ended well. She couldn't talk about Tom's views or his reasons as Kate hated to speculate and she didn't know all the facts.

"You think-" Tex started but was cut off when Burk interrupted him. Kate was thankful as she really didn't want to fight with Tex.

"Hey, Tex" Burk shouted. Tex turned away from Kate to the soldier, whatever he was going to say would be forgotten or said at a later time.

"Yeah?" Tex asked Burk, as the man came to a stop before them and he gave a nod of acknowledgement to Kate before he spoke to Tex.

"Captain requires you on the bridge" Burk told him. Tex gave a humourless laugh which Kate interpreted to mean that he was not in the mood to see Tom but would anyway. It was the rules of the ship, if you didn't have a function on the ship then your ass was turfed. Whether that was true remained to be seen.

"Good luck" Kate told Tex as she shoved his shoulder to make him move.

"For what?" Tex asked her incredulously.

"For whatever the Captain's going to ask you to do. I probably won't see you until after it's happened. So do me a favour and don't be too stupid out there" Kate advised him. Tex shot her an incredulous look and smiled nonetheless before he walked away.

* * *

Kate spent the rest of her day, trying to take her mind off of Tex. She was worried about him, he was usually pretty even tempered at least from what she remembered. She'd never seen him lose his cool but he obviously rained it in because he dropped by the gym when she had been going for a run to fill her in on what he was doing and to apologise for earlier. Though she wasn't entirely sure what he was apologising for. But she appreciated him filling her in on what he was doing and why. It gave her an understanding of what was happening on the ship.

She hadn't realised it but she had been holding a lot of tension inside from being on the outside of the loop. She understood completely why she wasn't briefed on everything. She was a passenger and if she started making demands she could already predict what Tom and Mike would say. Especially Mike and she didn't want to come off as though she was entitled and bratty.

So she kept her course of being as unobtrusive as possible for the rest of the afternoon. She finished her run, showered, had dinner, she followed it with a nap for about two hours before she woke up agitated and needing to move. So she got out of her bunk and changed into her yoga pants, white racerback crop top and grey loose off the shoulder ¾ jumper over the top. She tossed on some socks and her sneakers. She grabbed her yoga paws and hair tie before she headed to the gym.

When she got there, she found two guards posted at the door. When she tried to get past them, one of them held up a hand to stop her. "Ma'am, the gym is off limits" he told her.

"Why?" She asked, she heard Dr Tophet shouting but his words were muffled by the walls so she wasn't sure what he was saying.

"Lassiter" tom said, Kate turned on her feet and took in his angry expression. She wondered what was going on because last she checked the Captain never sequested the Gym to himself and Dr Tophet's shouting lent her to think she definitely missed something while she was asleep.

"Captain" She replied in a casual manner.

"Gym is in use" he told her. Kate gave a closed lipped smile as she was tempted to make a scarcastic comment but held her tongue taking another tactic.

"What's going on?" Kate asked him as she was genuinely curious. He looked surprised for a moment before donning his usual poker face when shit hit fan and Kate had a feeling she was the only person who didn't know what was going on. A feeling she was definitely struggling to be blasé about.

"It's just a minor situation. Nothing to worry about except that you will not be getting access to the gym." he told her as he took hold of the door handle.

"Ok, can I go workout in the Helo bay?" she asked as she felt the need to ask for permission. He gave a nod.

"by all means" he told her, he opened the door and Kate tried to get a look at what was going on but Tom slipped in too quickly and had closed the door before she could see anything to tell her what was going on.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Kate none the wiser to what was going on only that Tophet was in trouble and everything had something to do with the Russians. It truly sucked that she had no power or rank on the ship to allow her to privy to information as the crew were all unusually tight lipped. So she hadn't bothered asking any questions before going to the Helo bay to practice yoga. Exercise was her stress buster and it turned her thoughts off the situation.

She was halfway through a relaxing yet rigorous practice when she heard the side interior door to the Helo bay open. She looked over her shoulder as she was in Warrior's pose and saw Rachel step into the room.

"I was wondering where you were" Rachel said it sounded rather awkward like she hadn't mean to search out Kate yet here she was.

"Yeah, the gym was occupied. I think the Captain and the XO are torturing your friend Tophet" Kate said half jokingly as she stretched her arms out, enjoying the slight burn in her muscles as they worked to stay in control.

"He is not my friend, so the Captain and Commander can do whatever they want to him" Rachel said in a cutting tone.

"Oh, I thought he was" Kate said, casually as she noted she had struck a rather raw nerve with Rachel.

"He was until he tried to kill us all" Rachel said, she pressed a palm to her forehead and began pacing the floor looking completely shocked to her core.

"Sorry, what?" Kate asked as she turned her palms to face forward and then transitioned into triangle pose. She should stop practicing yoga and listen with her full attention but she didn't want to. Her confusion seemed to set Rachel off as the woman started to rant at her about the whole story of what happened.

Though it wasn't entirely concise as Rachel kept back tracking to the part about how Tophet had been her colleague for 10 years and what he had tried to do was 'unfathomable' even with his reasons.

"-I'm in utter disbelief about that. He was deliberately working with the Russians" Rachel started to rant as she still couldn't believe what had happened. Repeating exactly what she had told the Captian as he had looked at her as if she were just as guilty as Quincy in his deception. She thought she had only just earned his trust and now this. She didn't even want to think of how they all nearly died because of his desperation to get his family to safety.

She voiced all her thoughts, well they just fell out of her mouth on their own volition as she processed it and paced the floor all the while Kate practised yoga. Just that made Rachel pull up short and turn to look at the woman.

"How can you be practising yoga right now after everything that I have told you?" Rachel asked her incredulously. The Captain had given her a steely gaze that made her defensive, Kate's lack of visible interest in the subject matter was also incredibly unnerving as she didn't know what she was thinking.

"It's relaxing and usually I do it in the gym late at night because the crew is busy or asleep so I don't have to worry about anyone staring at my arse. It ruins my concentration" Kate said as she transitioned into another posture. "Anyway you seemed like you needed someone to talk at instead of too" Kate told her, as if she resigned herself to listen no matter what.

"That's not entirely true" Rachel told her, she didn't have many allies but she counted Kate as one. She did not want to jeopardize that by being unfeeling towards her. Though she had to acknowledge that she had just spoken to Kate like she were a wall with ears.

"It's cool, I don't mind. We all gotta vent at someone from time to time" Kate said as she settled into the downward dog posture and raised her right leg up in the air with her toe pointed into three legged downward dog. She adjusted her hands ever so slightly, so the weight was more evenly distributed before relaxing into it.

"So you're going to just do yoga until all of this is over?" Rachel asked her, the woman sounded completely stressed out.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do" Kate said trying not to laugh and she held her leg up and tried to lift it a little higher while maintaining the form. "There is nothing else I can do and I'm not going to go moseying around CIC or the Bridge, I'd just get in the way" Kate said before taking a slow and easy breath.

"I just can't stand here and not know what's going on" Rachel told her.

"Look I get that but we're only going to get in the way. Just stay here, relax and join me if you want. I'll keep my postures at beginner level while we let the navy and Tex do what they do best" Kate offered as she lowered her raised foot back to the floor. Rachel shook her head or so Kate assumed as she couldn't see her.

"Yoga is not my stride" Rachel said as she paced the floor the floor again.

"I know get it's hard feeling useless but there are things they can only do and vice versa. It's something you'll have to get used to." Kate told her, but Rachel did not agree.

"I'm going to the Bridge" Rachel told her in a snap decision as she refused the be kept on the outside.

"Ok but hug the walls" Kate advised her as she transitioned from downward dog posture into to push up and slowly lowered her body to the floor.

"You're not coming with me?" Rachel asked, Kate rolled onto her back and looked at Rachel, the woman clearly decided she was going to the Bridge and she wanted Kate with her; whether Kate wanted to or not. Kate gave a sigh and caved as she knew a big part of her just wanted to know for once what was going on.

"Fine, I'll come with you but for the record. We're going to get yelled at" Kate told her as she pulled off her yoga grips and got up off the floor before she moved to her sneakers. She pulled on her socks and sneakers on and then her jumper before gesturing for Rachel to take the lead.

* * *

When they made it to the bridge, Kate tugged Rachel back so they were not in the way. Rachel had clearly been ready to walk right into the fray of things but Kate knew it would only cause a distraction. Something none of them needed. Rachel stepped forward not heeding Kate's subtle advice and watched anxiously. It definitely tipped off the crew as they lifted their heads momentarily to see them. Kate however did not move a muscle from the wall she had leaned against. She folded her arms across her chest and looked on with a calm resignation. Whatever was going to happen good or bad would happen so there was no point in stressing over the outcome. She had faith the Captain and his crew to do their best to the end to save their collective asses. She being among them hoped for a positive outcome.

* * *

"-When the Master chief's back on board. Take in all lines. Everyone watch the clock. We're timing this down to the second" Tom told the bridge. They had both finished briefing the bridge on their plan and added in a pep talk to remind them that even though they were a young crew the Captain and he had all the confidence that would be successful. It was why they trained all the time, just so when a situation like this arose, they would be confident of a positive outcome.

"Aye sir" the bridge crew including Mike said as they looked down to their watches making sure they were synced. Before they went back to prepping.

Mike looked over his shoulder as he sensed an audience. He wasn't surprised to see Dr Scott, the woman was nosey but Kate was a surprise as she had never been game enough to step on the bridge uninvited until now.

At least Kate kept the wall and out the way. Dr Scott looked like she was barely keeping her panic in check, though listening to the crew talk about their lack of experience at dead reckoning was not exactly inspiring confidence. But then how would the woman be able to understand when she didn't know what they were doing. He looked at Kate and knew she understood what was going on due to her military background.

She gave him a nod of her head. The way she held herself with a quiet and steady confidence that made him wonder why she ever gave up the military as she had the grit to be a Commander even if her leadership skills needed some work. But now was not the time to thinking about her, he sat forward in his chair and looked out the front of the bridge before picked up the radio receiver.

"Master Chief you about ready?" Mike asked over the radio.

"_Yes, sir, on your order"_ the Master Chief's voice said over the line. Mike looked to Tom to make the call. Tom gave the slightest nod and Mike picked up the phone receiver for CIC.

"Prepare to go M-CON Alpha one, I say again. All radar and radio transmissions go down on my count." Mike said, he looked at his watch "3...2…1... Now" he ordered, he looked to the back half of the bridge and watched as half the consoles turned off.

They all waited in a tense silence, as if expecting for the worst to happen. Without radar or sonar they had no idea if their planned worked or if the Russians would attack. If the Russians did attack then they probably wouldn't know it until the missile hit them. After a few moments, Mike hung up the phone receiver as Granderson looked to Tom.

Mike had been darting looks between Tom and Kate, their unwavering confidence in the face of an unpredictable situation like this was interesting to the part of him that was an avid observer of people's behaviour. It was also slightly unnerving being stared at when he was not entirely in charge. He just executed the orders, he didn't make them whilst Tom was on the bridge.

"Sir all crew are back on board" Granderson informed Tom. The man paused briefly before he spoke in a clear and concise manner.

"Lt Granderson, all ahead at one third 3 knots make it course one three five, engage prairie masker" Tom ordered.

"Aye sir" Granderson said she turned her attention to thetwo sailors at the helm controls "Helmsman, come to course one three five, all ahead at 3 knots" she ordered, reciting the same course and speed Tom had given her.

The man at helm controls repeated the instructions and acknowledge them out loud before he and his partner did as instructed. Mike heard the engines slowly powered up and felt the ship began to move steadily away from the port. They had managed to jump one of the many hurdles of the night. He only hoped the rest of the plan held together with the same success.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

It was as impressive as it was nerve wracking to watch what was happening on the bridge. Crew members continually shouted out and repeated calculations necessary for the navigator to keep adjusting the course of the ship. Kate was quietly glad the only thing she ever had to guide was a Helo. Sure it was tough but manoeuvring a ship this large without radar or sonar was not what Kate would consider an easy feat. She slowly moved to the left side of the bridge to watch the action and because it got her out of the pathway of the crew. It also put her out of Mike's direct eye line something she needed as he kept looking at her as if expecting her to do something which was making her nervous considering she couldn't help or do anything but observe.

Kate folded her arms and kept a calm expression plastered on her face. When Master Chief came into the bridge and relieved the crewman she had been standing next to. He stopped next to her taking the vacant spot. She half expected him to kick her off the bridge but instead he gave her a brief nod before he turned his attention to what was happening in the room. Like her as there was not much else he could do until orders were given out.

Mike listened as Gator informed Tom about the depth between the ship's hull and the sea floor and looked to his friend for a moment as everything was down to the clock. A lot was hanging on this plan to work but Mike couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong. It was Lieutenant Green's objection to Lt Foster going as a decoy. His excuse was barely adequate and vaguely disrespectful to the woman's capabilities. It raised a red flag for him, which obviously showed on his face as the Lieutenant backtracked and became adamant that he should take point.

It just didn't sit well, that and the fact they were the lynchpin to the plan. If they didn't complete their mission then the Nathan James would rip its hull on the coral and it would be game over for them all.

Two radio clicks sounded over the comm. Mike felt a small sense of relief as it signalled the rig with Lt Green and Foster hurtled towards the Russians to create a distraction was nearing their target which in turn meant they were closing in for the critical stage of their plan.

"That's it they're in open waters 500 yards, out ten knots" Mike said, he pulled his binoculars from their holder and raised them up to his eyes to look to the hill which would show just a slight the glow of the explosion when Green and Foster completed their mission. Every second that passed felt like an hour.

"Calculated impact in 5 minutes" Lt Granderson announced the bridge. Mike lowered the binoculars and looked at Tom. The man had nerves of steel as he had his game face on, Mike wished he could share the same sense of confidence.

"We don't blast the coral until Green and Foster have reached their target. We wait until we see their blast is that clear?" Tom asked the crew in a stern tone, it told everyone that he expected no other outcome.

"Aye Sir" the crew said in unison.

* * *

A few minutes passed by painfully slow minutes, they edged closer and closer to the coral, the tension on the bridge built. He looked around the room checking how the crew was handling the situation. They were performing admirably and keeping it together. Dr Scott looked like she was about expire from the anticipation, he wished he could see Kate but she had moved out of his eyeline and to look over at her would only draw attention. So he told himself he didn't need to look at her as she would be just like Tom. Quietly confident. Calm. The kind of outward attitude that needed to be shown on the bridge because he was sure if anyone panicked it would just infect the others and then mistakes would be made.

"Ruskov should see them by now. Let's hope he buys it" Mike said breaking the silence as it was too quiet on the bridge.

"He already thinks he won" Tom said as Mike looked out the window with the binoculars.

Three clicks sounded over the radio.

"Here we go" Mike said as three clicks meant any minute now the rig would hit the side of the Russian ship and blow a hole in the side creating the distraction for them to blow up the coral and slide through the canal and back out to the ocean.

"OOD based on a good fix holds us at 20 yards left of track"

"helmsman come right 5 degrees rudder" Lt Granderson said.

"Right 5 degrees rudder aye" The helmsman said before he adjusted course. Kate took a slow and easy breath

Tom picked up phone receiver from the console in front of him and brought it to his ear. "T.A.O. I'm going to need you to blast that coral what's your status?" He asked.

"_Torpedo is armed ready, firing bearing set_" came over the comm. Tom acknowledge the information and checked his watch. Time was nearly up. He leaned forward in his chair and held the phone receiver in his hands. It was crunch time.

Mike looked at his watch noting that the 5 minute mark had passed and there had yet to be an explosion.

"Something happened" he said stating something he wished he didn't have to but it had to be said out loud. He'd rather announce he saw the lights of an explosion but apparently their luck was beginning to run out. He just wished now hadn't been the time.

"Impact is overdue Sir" Lt Granderson said to Tom informing him of the obvious and reinforcing the assumption that something had gone wrong. Tom closed his eyes and dropped his head slightly as if he were silently praying.

"I don't see anything. Where are they?" Mike said voicing his concern as he looked out to the ridge waiting for the glow to signify the explosion. The tension in the bridge hit a new level as it was clear the plan was falling apart and they needed to regroup and go to Plan B. Something Mike nor Tom wanted to resort to but at this point they didn't have much of a choice as they were going to sink the Nathan James if they kept their current course. The whole crew knew and were now getting anxious.

"Hang on" Tom told the crew.

"Sir, that canal is too tight to turn around and I can't slow down without losing manoeuvrability. We have to blast that coral Sir. Or it will tear us apart" Gator told him bluntly.

"Hang on" Tom said. Kate looked to Master Chief as the man grabbed hold of a handle on coming from the ceiling. It had to be 'Oh shit' handle much like the ones they put in the passenger side of the car above the door. The handle you grabbed to brace yourself for something horrific. It wasn't comforting especially since there wasn't one for her to grab hold of.

"Come on" Mike said under his breath as he looked to the ridge. Kate kept her stance and folded her arms a little tighter. She took a deep breath to calm her own nerves before she looked to Rachel. The woman was scared, Kate didn't blame her. Being on the bridge was intense to begin with but now they were practically chocking on the tension and the fear as it was apparent that the plan was not working out so great. Especially after Gator's lovely announcement about Coral tearing up the ship's hull.

"We're going to hit the coral in 15 seconds" Lt Granderson announced out loud, Kate wondered if the woman had to announce the obvious for a purpose or if she was just pushing Tom to make a decision. He had been sitting in his chair looking like he was praying for the past few minutes. Praying never worked for her but Kate just hoped whatever higher power he believed in would come through for him as it meant they would all win.

"Hang on" Tom repeated, in a stern and calm tone like he were dealing with an unruly child and vainly trying to keep the upper hand.

"10 seconds" Lt Granderson said and Kate wished she hadn't as they were all capable of counting down 15 seconds silently in their heads.

"Come on" Mike mumbled under his breath.

_8…7…6…5…_

"Sir, explosion reported off the –" a crewman shouted reporting the location of the explosion but Tom didn't wait for the rest of the information before Tom raised the receiver to his head.

"Fire torpedos!" Tom ordered, the bridge became a flurry of activity as trajectories were triple checked and course heading was announced and confirmed. The sound of the torpedo sounded as it exited the ship. A couple seconds later a loud explosion of water appeared a few feet in front of the ship's bow. The ship kept its steady pace and the crew shouted across information about explosion and the target being hit and then silence fell.

If the tension wasn't bad enough before, now it was extreme to the point Kate felt the restless need to pace but she held her spot. The ship continued to move forward and everyone seemed to stop breathing as the sound of metal groaning sounded. Kate knew that sound well enough to know that they hadn't cleared enough coral.

The noise was unnerving and about as comfortable to listen to like nails on a chalkboard. The only small saving grace was that no one had reported in that the ship was flooding. Yet. Kate looked around the room, at the faces of the crew no one was making eye contact with anyone. Rachel was staring rather intensely at Tom as the man held his calm and in control demeanour.

After a couple of minutes the groaning noise thankfully stopped, it was only after a few more minutes of silence did Tom and Mike seem to relax. Mike looked over his shoulder at her for just a moment, giving her an unreadable look before he looked over to Tom.

Tom had stepped out his chair to stand and picked up the phone receiver, bringing to his ear.

"DC central damage report" Tom ordered. It was the moment of truth. After a few seconds a voice over the comm replied.

"DC central, Report: No apparent hull damage" a voice announced, the crew on the bridge let out a collective sigh of relief. Kate was one of them as she stepped back from her place and lowered her head letting go of the breath she had been holding. People nodded and the tension that had been thick in the room before evaporated. Tom hung up the phone receiver and turned to Granderson.

"OOD let's pick up our cargo and get the hell out of here" he told her as he headed off the bridge.

"Aye sir, engines ahead two thirds" Lt Granderson said with a smile of relief.

_"Rescue boat moving to extract"_ came over the comm.

Kate looked to Rachel and motioned with her head for them to leave. The woman nodded and they quickly exited the bridge to get out of the way before someone told them off for being there in the first place.

"That was-"

"Impressive" Kate supplied as Rachel looked like she was having trouble finding the right words.

"Intense" Rachel said as they walked down the hallway away from bridge.

"Glad you went?" Kate asked amused to see if Rachel found it easier or harder to stand in the middle of the storm and not know what was going on like they just did or if maybe it was better to stay ignorant until after the event. Kate preferred to stand in the middle of the storm. She'd rather know what was going on than feel completely blind to the situation.

"I'm not too sure about that" Rachel answered, Kate smiled.

"Want to grab a cup of tea. I need to waste sometime before Tex returns" Kate told her, Rachel nodded needing to relax.

"That would be good." Rachel said.

* * *

An hour later,

Kate stood back from the crowd that was congratulating the two lieutenants in their success whilst they and the other parties that been off the ship. Once Tex was on board, it took him a second to zero in on her.

"I'm so flattered, you waited for me" Tex said as if Kate had spent 15 years waiting for him. Kate smiled and shook her head as she came towards him. The small crowd parted for them.

"Just making sure Lassiter Industries doesn't lose another one of its valuable assets" Kate told Tex. He frowned and said.

"Sorry what was that about my ass?" He asked her pretending he hadn't heard her correctly. Kate gave a blank look.

"I think you left it tied up on the dock in Gitmo" Kate told him mockingly innocent as she made it seem like she had mistaken his comment about his backside for 'ass' as in donkey. He chuckled and Kate tilted her head to the side looking at him, glad to see he was completely fine.

"Walk with me" Kate told him with a smile. They moved away from the crowd, letting them continue their celebrations. Once they were a good distance away, Kate leaned on the railing of the deck and looked to Tex.

"Celebratory Cubano?" he asked as he pulled the cigar from his pocket.

"Just this one time" Kate said caving in just this once as she took the cigar. She told herself it was easier to accept it than to refuse. Tex turned to Lieutenant Burk who was walking their way.

"Burk, you want in?" Tex asked as he held out a cigar. The man smiled and nodded.

"Sure, why not?" he said as he joined them.

"Well, I hear its congratulations all round to a job well done" Kate said.

"All we did is watch you guys sail past. Nothing hard about that" Tex said. "Though it did give Burk here time to tell me a tale or two about you" Tex said making conversation. Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise as she looked to the Lieutenant.

"To be honest, I didn't realise I even registered on Burk's radar" Kate said looking to Burk with an amused smile. "Do tell me of these stories" she added as she allowed Tex to light her cigar.

"You know they call you a weekend warrior" Tex said bluntly. Kate choked on the first draw of cigar smoke from surprise and annoyance. It was one thing to have a nickname that people called you playfully to your face but the one they said behind your back was a truer definition of what they thought of you.

"With respect" Burk added as if it would soften the blow. Kate had to turn away for a moment just to clear her lungs and when she slightly recovered her ability to breathe turned back. Tex clapped her on the back to help her clear her lungs.

"You alright?" Tex asked her after a couple of good hits to her back. Kate nodded.

"Yep, perfect. I just remember why I quit smoking" Kate rasped and gave nod with watery eyes as he held the cigar out to him.

"Quitting already"

"Some habits are best broken" Kate said, Tex shrugged and pocketed the cigar he had been about to light and took hers. She cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "Weekend Warrior?" she asked Burk.

"Yeah" Burk said amused before he took a puff of his cigar looking like a man at home with himself.

"Make sure the Captain and the XO never hear you call me that" Kate told him. That snapped him out of his comfort zone.

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because being disrespectful to someone even if they are a civilian tends to be frowned upon" Kate informed him, she couldn't imagine why they would call her a weekend warrior. Sure she didn't hold up a flag and declare her life history to the ship but she thought it was widely known that she had a military background. But it bit that no one even bothered to ask or worse they decided that her past few months of being a complete professional and handling herself rather well didn't sink into their minds.

"Well, no offence was intended Ma'am but you got a chip on your shoulder considering you're just a civilian. Not like you've got any real combat experience" Burk said with a shrug.

"That's misinformation if I ever heard it" Tex said to Kate. "What lies have you been telling these people?" he asked her, something about the question really rubbed her the wrong way.

"I haven't lied to anyone. I'm a Helo pilot who works for Lassiter Industries. Anyway I've been busy with work and keeping to myself because I can't be bothered telling people my life story since I was only supposed to be here for 4 months. One would think the military would be smarter than to let just any pilot operate it's expensive equipment" Kate said to Tex who blew the smoke of his cigar over his left shoulder to be polite so it wouldn't hit her face.

"So defensive" Tex said teasingly.

"Yeah, I am because it appears that people on this boat think I'm a silver spoon fed kid with keys to Uncle Sam's ride." Kate drawled sarcastically. It annoyed her because now she was beginning to think her one flip out damaged what little of a good reputation she had left.

"It's a ship" Tex corrected her, Kate narrowed her eyes at him.

"Really? I thought it was a Space Shuttle and that we were all going to go to Mars tomorrow" Kate dead panned but she shot him a look that could kill which he received loud and clear as he smiled and held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Wow, dial back the aggression. I'm your ally here. Would you like me to run around and correct people?" Tex asked her.

"No, let them be idiots" Kate said losing a touch of her anger.

"Ah one of the idiots is standing right here" Burk said pointing to himself.

"Can I tell him?" Tex asked her eagerly, Kate waved a dismissive hand.

"Sure knock yourself out" Kate told him. Tex smiled and clapped a hand on Burk's shoulder as he held his cigar in the other hand. It made Kate think of the A-team for some reason.

"Son, this lady here dedicated over decade of her life to the Australian Army as Helo Pilot. A weekend warrior, she is not" Tex informed him. It took a moment for it dawn on Burk's features what kind of a faux pas he had made.

"Damn, I'm sorry" Burk said Kate.

"Yeah, I would of told you earlier but I was hoping Red would deck you" Tex said with a smile. The man loved to stir people up.

"I wouldn't have decked him" Kate told Tex with a roll of her eyes.

"I appreciate not getting punched" Burk said.

"Oh you're no fun" Tex said with a pout before he took a puff of his cigar.

"So you two been working in the same company for long?" Burk asked them to change the conversation to a safer topic. Kate didn't mind as she would prefer to move onto happier topic and Tex was always one going for a laugh.

"We never worked together but I was school buddies with her husband who became my boss. But in saying that I've only seen this woman exactly 12 times over the past 3 years-" Tex started but Kate interrupted him.

"He also likes to email me a lot and it's always pictures of kittens wearing berets. So it feels like no time has passed at all between those visits" Kate said with a mocking smile to Tex who shook his head at her while Burk looked at Tex like he was an oddball.

"That's a lie, I send you video links of baby polar bears getting tickled and wombats because I know you love it and it will make you smile especially the wombats" Tex told Kate.

"I forgot your affinity for the word 'Wombat'." Kate sighed. Tex chuckled and turned to Burk with a serious expression on his face.

"I once went to a town named Wombat" Tex told Burk in a tone that said it a way that TV characters on a drama show said they'd been to war and survived something truly heinous when they had the 'wounded soldier' storyline.

"I took you there with Jack. You Nong. So stop making it out to sound like it was Deliverance. It's a lovely town" Kate said defending the township of Wombat to Burk who looked amused by exchange between her and Tex.

"People stopped and stared at us when we walked into the bar" Tex said as if it were the scariest thing to have happened. Kate shook her head and held up a finger.

"One: it was a pub and " She lifted a second finger "two: of course they stared. You're a loud mouth yank and not many tourists go to Wombat. I'm sure they were more afraid of you than the other way round" Kate argued.

"I'm not scary" Tex said, he looked about ready to list out his better qualities but didn't as a young crewman walked up to them. Bringing their conversation to a halt.

"Lt Burk, Captain wants to see you on the Bridge" he said to Burk. The man nodded.

"Ok, well thanks for the cigar. Catch you two another time" Burk told them with an amused smile.

"Later" Kate said, she and Tex watched him walk away for a moment before Tex turned back to her.

"He's too young for you" he told her. It took Kate a moment to realise what he was saying.

"Seriously?" Kate asked, as she couldn't think of how she was once flirtatious towards to Lt Burk but then Tex liked to bait her.

"It's been over a year since Jack departed this life. You shouldn't rebound with a younger man, he'll just fall in love you and you'll have to break his heart and I'll have to listen to him sobbing about you" Tex told her, Kate laughed as the reality of that happening was exceedingly unlikely.

"I'm not interested in a rebound-" she started to say but Tex clapped a hand on her shoulder and interrupted her with a look of understanding.

"It's perfectly healthy to seek a physical connection with another human being after the loss of spouse. We are social creatures made for loving one another"

"Does that line ever work?" Kate asked him incredulously. He smiled in such a smug fashion that she had a feeling it did. But then with his accent and good looks and hard body, he was never lonely for female company.

"Sometimes but just know that if I start looking tasty to you that I'm only going to hug you and nothing more. You're Jack's woman and I never cut into another man's territory especially a friend's" Tex told her. Kate laughed and shook her head at him.

"I'm so glad you cleared the air on that and don't worry, while I'm on this ship; I'm keeping my pants firmly zipped" Kate told him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

A couple of days later,

Mike opened the door to communications room to find Tom sitting at one of the stations with a head set on listening to the SOS calls. He had a bracelet on the table that he was playing with, Mike figured Tom's daughter made it for him. It was starting to become a habit of Tom's to come down and listen to the air waves. Mike wasn't sure if it was healthy to listen to so much despair but someone had to do it.

When Mike stepped in Tom lifted the headset from his head and placed them on the desk in front of him.

"Sent the guys on a break" Tom gave a sigh "figured I'd see what was going on in the outside world" he said looking despondently at the wall before he looked to Mike and said "There's a lot of static"

"Well whatever you hear out there's not going to be particularly uplifting"

"My dad had an Oldham radio set in his cabin I thought maybe Darien was…" Tom paused. "It's our anniversary" Tom confessed, Mike gave a slightest of nods completely understanding why he would want to listen to people's calls for help if it meant the chance of hearing his wife's voice even if he couldn't respond. Mike wished he could hear his daughters voices but a side of him knew as much as he wanted to hear their voice the pain of not being able to reply, of being unable to help would tear him to pieces. It nearly did the first and last time he spoke to them.

"You never come down here" Tom commented.

"Yeah" Mike gave a sardonic chuckle and shook his head as he pulled up a chair and turned it to face him and sat down straddling it. "I don't think Christina's looking for me" he said with a wry smile to cover up his pain, the grief and the absurdity of how Kate had fallen back into his life. It was like some higher power was having a good giggle at his expense. He rested his arms on the back of chair and looked to Tom.

"Come on" Tom said as if Mike was joking. Mike wished he was joking. He really wanted a marriage like Tom's but he and Christina just couldn't seem to get it together something he truly blamed himself for as the more time he saw Kate on the ship the more he realised how over the years he had been silently comparing his wife to Kate and hell he'd been doing it the last few months. He wished he could turn off that part of his brain, that he could just wipe Kate from his memory. No one least of all him needed to be constantly reminded of how happy he had been with a woman who was not his wife or the mother of his children.

"Yeah, well before we left things were pretty ragged between us" Mike said, 'ragged' was an understatement to how he and Christina were. "I finally got her on the phone after we lifted M-COM. She told me about Lucas" Mike drew in a rocky breath as the pain and grief of knowing his son was dead that he had been burying for days was attempting to bubble to the surface. "Losing a son is one thing but dealing with it on your own is just…" he drawled not able to find the words.

"There was nothing you could do" Tom told him, Mike knew he was trying to give him some comfort but his words just burned him as Mike could have done many things and all those scenarios played in his head.

"That is not what she wanted to hear" Mike said, hell he could never say anything that would make it right or salve the wounds. Something which made him angry just thinking about and he realised if he continued to talk, he might be liable to break something and they needed the comm room intact, so he gave a nod "Well, I'll leave you to it" Mike said making a strategic retreat. He rose from his chair and set the chair back into the desk before he turned for the door.

"There's still a chance Mike" Tom said as Mike reached for the door. Mike felt anger flare inside of him, he turned and faced Tom.

"For all of us" Tom told him, Mike wished he could share Tom's blind faith that everything would work out, that they would be able to reunite with their families but he didn't feel it. So instead of beginning a fight be kept his mouth shut and left the room.

* * *

"Look, I gave you a couple days to chill off and think about what happened but now we have to learn to get a long" Kate said as she watched Grodin bench pressing weights in the gym. She folded her arms across her chest as she was sucking up her pride and trying to mend bridges so she could get the Helo back in the air. She was bored, so bored she was close to giving Grodin a heartfelt apology so they could get back to work. Knowing full well 'work' would mean her training him even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. Why she couldn't have a co-pilot with years of experience and ego to keep cool under pressure? was a question she was asking herself on a regular basis.

"It's pretty hard to get along with someone so mentally unbalanced" Grodin told her. Kate rolled her eyes as she knew how well the story of 'Poor Grodin nearly getting shot by the crazy Australian' was doing the rounds of the ship. At least Burk had warmed up to her but she had a feeling that he just liked watching her and Tex banter about inane things.

"How old are you?" Kate asked as she sat down on one of the benches beside his. There were only a couple of other people in the Gym but they were using the treadmill.

"23" he told her with a grunt as he continued lifting the weights with his buddy hovering over him to make sure he didn't injure himself.

"Tell me, how long did it take you to get to your illustrious position?" She asked him mockingly.

"Roughly 5 years" he answered.

"Including your degree?" Kate asked.

"Yeah" he said.

"So four years of college and then one year flight school?" Kate asked, she knew this but for some reason it annoyed her that he thought he was King at flying after only a year and 5 months of flying.

"Yeah" he answered.

"What did you get your degree in?" she asked him out of curiosity.

"Science" he told her.

"What kind of science?" Kate asked. He gave her an odd look before he answered.

"Marine Biology" he told her, Kate covered her mouth with her hand as she was trying not hard to laugh. Marine Biology was a hard degree and a hard field to get work in. It was probably why he was a navy pilot but then she was also surprised as she couldn't imagine why he would be here if he liked studying and preserving marine life.

"Really?" She asked, he gave her a dark look as he heard her amusement.

"I didn't want to be a pilot. Ok? But my stepfather is career military and refused to pay for college unless I did my time in the service. Then my Mom weighed in on the subject and it snowballed" he told her.

"So, you're being a pain in my ass because you don't want to be here but Mom and Stepdad plied the pressure on you? Why didn't you just flunk yourself out of flight school or basic training? Go back to Uni on a scholarship, get a masters and then a PhD?" Kate asked him.

"Because I couldn't get a scholarship and I couldn't afford to do my masters or PhD. and I gave my word to the Admiral that I would serve for 3 years and he promised that after the three years my life is my own. I expected with the troops being pulled from Iraq that I'd be kept stateside. Where it's quiet. I also figured it wouldn't hurt to have it on my resume as well as having a pilot's licence. Not like it fucking matters any more" Grodin grumbled as he pushed the weights up and into the rack above his head and sat up to look at her.

"You don't know that. Pilots are probably a rare commodity now" Kate told him with a shrug. It was a lousy consolation prize.

"True" he said though he didn't seem enthused about being a 'rare commodity' and anyway their usefulness would run out as soon as the Helo became either irreparably damaged or they ran out of petrol.

"But don't let it get to your head. You still have a lot to learn and since you have very little natural talent you're going to have to pick up your game" Kate told him.

"Gee thanks but my flight instructor said I was a natural" Grodin told her, as he wiped down the bench and then moved to the bar at the side of the room to do pull ups.

"You're an Admiral's son and your flight instructor was a brown noser who should-"

"You don't know how hard flight school was" Grodin told her, Kate pursed her lips unimpressed with the answer.

"Really? You think I got my pilot's licence from a cornflakes box and walked up to the closest recruitment centre and said 'Hey, look this is cool. Now I'd like to fly a million dollar aircraft because that sounds like an awesome way to spend my weekends'." Kate said in a mocking tone.

"Well, you're a woman. You don't have to jump through any hoops. I'm sure you were a news puff piece to inspire little girls that women can do it all" Grodin told her.

"You want to add misogyny to your repertoire? Cause that will not win you any favours with the women when you're trying to get laid" Kate informed him.

"Whatever" he said with a roll of his eyes.

"You know saying 'Whatever' like that is the equivalent of saying 'Fuck you'. You ever wonder why I pulled that gun on you?" Kate asked him.

"Because you're insane or maybe it's that time of the month?" he offered, Kate paused for a moment to consider his answer.

"No, I haven't even started ovulating yet" She told him, Grodin faulted slightly in his pull up and immediately dropped to the floor.

"Oh my god, I don't need to know that!" he told her, his cheeks red with embarrassment, Kate chuckled.

"You brought it up, obviously to embarrass me. Something which is incredibly hard to do. Anyway, I didn't say you were a bad pilot but you still have a lot to learn especially how you deal with stressful situations and how you control yourself when things go pear shaped. If you're not comfortable with the idea of flying into dangerous situations then tell me now. If you are then it'll save me a lot of bullshit and time" Kate told him. Grodin shook his head at her before he jump up to grab the bar and continue his reps.

"Don't shake your head at me, you think you're the first person to lose their guts after some rough flying? The first panic in a cockpit? Well let me reassure you, you're not. Nor will you be the last fuck up to do so. You'll get over it in time but only if you want to" Kate told him.

"You going to tell me how you overcame your fears? To build up some comradry between us" Grodin asked her.

"No" Kate said making a face at him.

"Let me guess because it didn't happen to you" he said mockingly.

"No, it happened but you're an ungrateful little shit who hasn't earned the right to hear my stories. So you want to be a pilot or not?" She asked him. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to answer.

"I got nothing better to do" Grodin told her.

"That's the spirit" Kate said dryly.

"So what now?" he asked her.

"I'm going to go see when we can get some air time for your 'training'." Kate told him.

* * *

"Look, Grodin and I kissed and made up… well we didn't kiss but then the only physical contact I want with that man is my fist connecting with his face. The point being is that we're going to play nice. So can we get some air time?" Kate asked Mike as she followed him through the ship. She had appeared seemingly out of thin air, and been following him for the past five minutes talking non stop.

"No" He said, considering she had given him a wide berth for the last 5 months he had hoped for it to continue but apparently he was not going to get his way in anything at all on this ship. Ok, that was a stretch. He could get his way in stopping Kate from getting what she wanted.

"No?" Kate asked in a dull tone as she hadn't expected that answer.

"You heard me, giving you and Grodin flight hours because you're bored would be a waste of the Nathan James' finite resources" Mike explained, he wouldn't admit it out loud but he did feel a small sense of satisfaction in ruining her day considering the effect she was having on him. He was half tempted to go somewhere off limits to her but he had the feeling she'd just follow him everywhere and anywhere he went today until he said yes to whatever she wanted. It was the way she had said 'there you are' as a greeting that reminded him that of the time she convinced tried to convince him to bungy jump and she had won out in the end. But this time, he wasn't to cave.

"Then tell me what can I do while I'm grounded" Kate said to him, she sidestepped a crewman to allow them to pass before she continued to follow him and talk. "I'm bored and I don't have the patience for being sea-locked on a long term basis" Kate said exasperated, he heard a note of desperation in her tone. He stopped and turned to face her, an amused expression on his face. He had to admit she was starting to act a little more like her old self and he liked it. Even if it was annoying, just like the scent of her vanilla and lime shampoo. Past and present intermeshed for just a moment as he felt tempted to reach out and touch her. But he didn't for more than the obvious reasons.

"Sea-locked is not a word I'm not familiar with" he said folding his arms and looking down at her attire with a critical eye as he knew if he found faults then he wouldn't see the beauty. Kate lifted her chin up and locked eyes with him. She was dressed in her usual white t-shirt and skinny black jeans and combat boots with her long red hair hung loose around her shoulders. Explained why he could smell the scent of her shampoo.

"I'm getting restless." Kate told him. _You're not the only one,_ he thought grimly as he reminded himself of the wedding ring on his finger.

"I realised that when I noticed how the wardroom was glaringly reorganized this morning" he told her, in fact the wardroom looked like it had been scrubbed to an inch of its life. He liked a clean wardroom but what he walked into this morning was extreme cleaning. Finally he could latch onto something that annoyed him as he didn't like the fact that she cleaned the room without asking first.

"I tidied up. There was no reorganising unless you count moving a salt shaker 2 millimetres to the left reorganising. I know how anal you can be about that stuff being out of place" Kate told him in a low voice.

"Everything has a place and you disassembled and cleaned the coffee machine" Mike complained. No one disassembled the coffee machine and cleaned it. It was like tempting fate and the last thing this ship needed was the coffee machine to breakdown.

Kate made a face that was a mix of frustration and disbelief. It was cute but it didn't soften his annoyance as she was supposed to ask permission before she cleaned or dismantled anything on the ship. Lord only knew what she was going to clean next.

"It was filthy, I'm pretty sure I found remains of a dead rat inside it" Kate told him being dramatic. Mike shook his head as he knew she was lying… well at least about the dead rat. The part about the coffee machine being filthy was probably true even though they cleaned the filter and the pot regularly.

"No,you didn't" Mike said calling her bluff. Kate threw up her hands.

"Ok, I didn't but instead of the coffee tasting like month old burnt battery acid it now tastes like coffee. It's delicious" Kate told him with a smug smile.

"No, it tastes-" he was about argue that he preferred the old coffee. It had taken him months to get used to its acidic and bitter flavour and he he enjoyed the burn but it was gone now. But Kate cut him off.

"Amazingly like fresh coffee which is delicious! I know, do we have to take a poll? I'll do it because I'm sure everyone one will agree the coffee is better. I need something to do" She whined, Mike wished she would stop saying 'do' as all he could think of was all the things he used to 'do' to her and how very tempted he was to 'do' them again. It was the downside of their talking and slipping into old habits that should be long dead as he found the innuendo in practically everything that came out of Kate's mouth.

"I'm not the activities director" he told her in a dry tone at which she rolled her eyes. He turned around and continued to walk away, not sure of his direction anymore as he wanted to lose Kate and figured the only way to do that was to either tire her out, so he kept walking.

"I realise this is a naval ship and not the P&O. I know what we're doing here is not a booze cruise of the islands, it's why I'm not donning a bikini and looking for a Mai Tai and SPF50 sunblock" Kate said images of Kate in her dark grey bikini and aviator sunnies lying on the beach flittered through his mind was something he didn't need. He shook his head as if to shake the image away and focussed on what she was saying "…What I was thinking was that I could make a flight simulator but it will require some imagination and-"

"Equipment and supplies from other sections of the ship" Mike stated interrupting her as making a flight simulator even the most basic would be near impossible given the current situation.

"Yeah, only temporarily" Kate said her tone hopeful.

"No" he told her, flat out.

"Ok well are there any duties on board that I could perform? You know stuff that could give others a break. Grunt stuff like cleaning. I could swab the deck" Kate suggested, Mike snorted as he was tempted to say they lived in the 21st Century the days of swabbing decks went out when they stopped building ships made out of wood but felt it would open up a whole new discussion he didn't want to have.

"You've been watching too many pirate movies" he informed her.

"All I can do on this ship when I'm not flying; is clean, exercise, beat a crewman at playstation or watch movies. The Helo bay is organised and so clean you could eat off the floors. The Helo probably hasn't seen so much TLC in its life until now which reminds me-" Kate started he knew she was going to ask for something so he cut her off.

"Fill out a requisition form and give it to the Chief of Engineer" Mike told her.

"Ok, well that leads me back to my original problem of having nothing to do" Kate told him.

"Do you know what my job is on this ship?" Mike asked her, he wondered if she realised that he had walked them around the ship twice in a large circle yet as they passed a couple of crewman for the second time earning them an odd look.

"Yes, I do and I am trying to be helpful on the ship" Kate told him.

"Helpful would be you going back to avoiding me and being unobtrusive" he told her.

"Yeah, it got boring and I realised we could stuck on this ship for a very long time together. So we have to talk-" Kate stopped mid sentence as the lights flickered and the engines slowed down. It was not a good sign in general but provided him an out from talking with Kate.

"Look at that saved by yet another crisis" Mike said as he changed direction and headed towards the bridge. He had a feeling Kate was talking about their past. That they couldn't ignore it or the fact that they had unfinished business with one another, it was like an elephant in the room that he wasn't ready to acknowledge.

"You and I can't avoid this forever" Kate told him as she continued to follow him.

"I think we can" Mike said as he called the bridge for a status update on his radio.

"No, we can't. At some point you and the Captain-" Kate started but he cut her off.

"When did the Captain get involved?" Mike asked her, he half listened to the reply to his query from the bridge and wondered when Tom became mixed up in their business.

"Gee, I don't know but I'd like some more responsibilities on the ship, I would also like to know what the hell is going on" Kate told him. Relief washed over him as he didn't know why he had thought she meant talking about their history. He really needed to screw his head on straight.

"It's a need to know on a basis by basis situation" he said blandly as it was a non answer. He clicked his radio telling the bridge he acknowledging the information about the engines overheating and telling that he was on his way.

"Do you know what I was doing when France got vaporised?" Kate asked him after he finished talking to the bridge.

"No" he said as he climbed up the stairs to the next level as he continued to the bridge.

"I nearly concussed myself on the stupid bunk bed frame from waking up to the alarm" Kate told him, Mike threw a confused look over her shoulder as he didn't think it was possible to do such thing.

"Seriously?" He asked, Kate gave him a glower look.

"Yes, I have a freakishly long torso and long thighs. It's where my height comes from. The point being is that I need more to do and I need to be in the loop of what's going on. I don't need a blow by blow but to be nice to be kept up to date instead of 'hey, briefing in 5' and walking completely blind into the situation." Kate told him, her grievance with her situation evidently clear. He could empathise with her frustration as he hadn't given much thought to how she was doing.

Correction, he had blatantly been ignoring it which right now made him feel a little guilty as she wasn't being a useless pain in his ass or complaining too much. She was just trying to be helpful and be involved, something he didn't want to recognise but had to as she could be valuable asset to them besides just being their Helo pilot.

"I'll speak with the Captain and the Master Chief" he told her.

"Thank you" Kate said, and apparently it was all she needed to hear because when he looked over his shoulder she was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Mike stood at the head of the table in the wardroom whilst the senior staff members sat around the table along with Kate and Tex. He didn't boot Tex or Kate out as he felt it would save him some time if they were told what was going on a long with the others. Thus he briefed the room on the current situation of the engine issues and water restrictions, he wanted the members in the room to keep an eye on their departments and keep them posted on the condition of the crew. It was supposed to be a quick briefing.

"These water restrictions are-" Mike stopped mid sentence as he noticed that Lt Green talking in a low tone and a couple of other lieutenants were looking rather amused than paying attention to him and what he was saying. It was already uncomfortably warm in the room as the air conditioning was linked to the engines. With the engines barely running, the ship was getting hotter. So he'd rather get the briefing over with as soon as possible as he was already sweating in his BDUS and he wasn't the only one in the room going by the lovely aroma settling unsavourily in the air.

"Lieutenant Green you want to share whatever you said that was so entertaining to the others?" Mike asked.

"Sir-" Lieutenant Green looked slightly reticent to say whatever it was out loud.

"Don't be shy, since you seemed to think whatever it is, is more important than this briefing. Why don't you share with class so we can all have a good laugh" Mike said in a patronising manner.

"I was just saying how this will be an eye opening experience for Lassiter and Dr Scott. They will learn what it's like to be more than weekend warriors" Lt Green said with a shrug, his tone was clear that he felt like Dr Scott and Kate had pampered lives. He clearly proud of his ignorant and blatantly disrespectful comment as he gave a closed lip smile that was smug as he probably assumed Mike would give a glib reply of agreement.

But he was wrong as Mike was in a bad mood. He was already pissed off that he wouldn't be able to have another coffee until more water was found. Sure he was rude and disrespectful to Kate and Dr Scott but he now realised that his behaviour was setting a tone he didn't like being mimicked in the lower ranks.

"I can assure you Lieutenant, that I have survived more dire situations than our current one" Kate assured Green with a patronising smile. Tex smothered a laugh as he looked down at the table obviously the man knew Kate's history which why he was try not to laugh.

"I can only imagine" Lt Green said in an equally patronising tone. Sweat rolled down the back of Mike's neck.

"With over a decade of dedicated military service, I would think dealing with this situation is right in Lassiter's wheelhouse. Now, are you finished Lt Green or do you have more to add? because I would like to continue with the briefing so we can all get back to our duties" Mike told him, he didn't wait for a reply before he opened the file he had brought and read out the water restrictions about to be set in place.

* * *

"What was that?" Tex asked Kate after the briefing had finished and a severely chastised looking Lieutenant Green left the room with his head down. Mike hadn't exactly given the man a smack down but it had definitely shown that Lieutenant Green had successfully put his foot in his mouth and Mike would not tolerate anyone questioning Kate's abilities. Frankly, she expected Mike to let it slide instead he practically gave her a glowing review and placed her on a pedestal. Something she hadn't expected and she was kind of pissed that he did it because now people were going to wondered how Mike knew that about her. No one would think 'Hey, he read her personnel file'. No, they'd think something else, that there was history there and then it had to be bad history because they weren't exactly best friends either.

"It was a briefing, honestly Tex. You've been out of the corps for only a decade but I'm sure you can remember what they were like" Kate said teasingly as she picked up her water bottle with her name written on it, that had been filled with water for her.

"No, I mean Commander Slattery just jumping to your defence and calling you a hero. I thought he hated you" Tex said as he took a sip of what would be his last coffee for a while. Kate turned around and leaned a hip on the bench as she looked to him.

"He didn't say I was a hero and Lt Green was being disrespectful" Kate said, wishing they could change the topic.

"You didn't reprimand Burk and you've kept quiet about your past" Tex said, he sounded suspicious and a little disappointed.

"I've kept a low profile. You know military are usually pissed off when civilian contractors come in" Kate said with a shrug.

"Bullshit" he said with a smile.

"Let it go Tex" she told him.

"We're in an extreme situation, you have valuable exp-"

"I'm flying the Helo, it's all they need me to do" she said cutting him off.

"You're a brilliant tactician-" he started to argue but she cut him off once again.

"But I know nothing about naval warfare and no one is going to listen to someone who was the equivalent of a lieutenant. You know, I would have been a Major if I hadn't been such an underachiever" Kate told him with a wry smile, she felt maybe if she had reached that rank before resigning then she could have at least something more than her piloting skills to offer.

"I thought it was that you crashed too many Helos" Tex said with a chuckle before he grew serious "Though I have to ask what about helping them out with assistance from Lassiter Industries?" he asked.

"It's complicated" Kate said uncomfortably.

"You mean besides the fact we'd have to break radio silence?" Tex said, Kate nodded.

"Yeah, I don't exactly have full access to the company systems and I would need to talk to Evan to find out what is left or more like what is operational and where in position to where we are now" Kate said uncomfortably, when she had spoken to Evan he had mentioned that it would be wise for her to have full access to Lassiter's satellite system but then Kate would have to explain how morally and ethically ambiguous Evan ran the company and she wasn't ready to get shouted at nor did she think there was anything in Lassiter Industries that could possibly help the ship.

"I'm sure the Captain would be interested" Tex said sitting back in his chair. The man didn't really know much about the entirety of what Lassiter Industries did or what projects it was involved in but he wasn't stupid.

"There are legal grey areas-"

"The world has gone to shit, I doubt they're going to make you walk the plank" Tex said incredulously. Kate scrubbed a hand down her face and gave an aggravated sigh.

"It's not that easy, these people are straight laced. They follow rules and laws set down by a government that no longer exists. Anyway, there is no way in hell we are going to break radio silence for anything. So this argument is moot" Kate told him.

"Alright, but I think you should tell them" He told her.

"I'll keep it in mind, when I think it's pertinent. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything" Kate said making a compromise, Tex nodded.

"Ok, well I think we should head outside where it's cooler" Tex told her as he rose from his chair.

"Go ahead, I need to change into some lighter clothing" Kate told him.

"I don't think anyone would mind if you striped down to your underwear" he said with a smile.

"I'm glad to hear that" Kate replied in a dry tone.

* * *

Hours later,

Night had fallen and it was hot like an oven inside and only a few degrees cooler outside the ship. Too hot to sleep and the constant stopping and starting of the engines was starting to grate on Kate's nerves. She understood they were limping to Serrana bank, there was no better or closer option for fresh water but her temper was short fuse because of heat and caffeine withdrawal. Yes, she was precious like that which was why she trying to stay as cool as possible which was she spent most of her day staying out of sun.

Even dressed in black ¾ yoga tights, her sneakers and dark steel blue oversized ¾ sleeve dolman top with a scoop neckline wasn't enough to abate the heat. Underneath she wore the white racerback crop top she did her yoga so she fan herself with the top and not indecently flash anyone when she did so.

Not that she worried about that at the moment as she stood alone on an upper level balcony that ran along the side of the ship. It was in the shade and for some reason unoccupied but Kate didn't mind as she wanted to be alone. She leaned on the rail and held her bottle of water in her hands, she still had from the morning briefing. Severe water rationing had been enforced immediately after Captain had been briefed by the ship's engineer who was standing if for the chief and the navigators gave the bad news that they were 6 days away from fresh water. She had overheard someone say they only had enough water for 4 days travel, so the last two were going to be rough.

"Ma'am, you're in a restricted area" Kate heard Master Chief shout as he walked toward her. The man was decked out in BDUs and boots. She didn't envy him the slightest as he had to be soaked in sweat but as he got closer he didn't look like he was suffering too badly. She wished she could say the same as she was wearing less than him and she could feel the sweat trickling down her back. If she were working out, she'd be satisfied with a good sweat out but sweating like this was not fun especially since she wouldn't be showering for another 6 days.

"Sorry, Master Chief. I was just chasing the shade and solitude" Kate told him with a friendly smile.

"I have no issue with that as long it's not on up here. Last thing we need is you passing out and hurting yourself" he said as he stood next to her. She kind of expected him to escort her out of the area but instead he looked out at the ocean.

"I'm pretty sure a lot of people would like that." Kate half joked as she turned her gaze to the same view. What she wouldn't give for a cool breeze right now but it was just stagnate warm air.

"I can't speak for anyone but myself but I'd prefer if you didn't" he said in a kind manner, Kate was sure the man was more worried about the paperwork as he'd probably be the one to find her since he was here now.

"It would cause quite a hassle considering the situation. Expenditure of unnecessary energy and all that. Tell me how are you?" Kate asked him, she turned her back to the view and looked at him sideways as she leaned back against the railing.

"Me?" he asked surprised she even asked.

"Yes" Kate said with a smile.

"I'm ok" he told her.

"And the crew?" She asked out of curiosity.

"They are doing alright" he told her, though the way he said made it seem like he was trying to be cryptic about it. They lapsed into silence for a few moments before Kate spoke.

"I assume you've been through something like this before" Kate said.

"Severe water rationing?" he clarified.

"Yes" Kate said.

"Once or twice. You?" he asked.

"Once but I was in the desert, for some reason being surrounded by water and knowing I can't drink it makes me feel a little crazy" Kate said half serious, his lips quirked in amusement.

"Well, you could drink it but you'd die a lot sooner from dehydration. Tell me how are you coping?" he asked it was funny how his question sounded like a loaded one to her instead of a casual enquiry about her health.

"I'm alright" she answered.

"You're alright?" he asked her, his tone was sceptical and she realised he was looking for a more deeper evaluation of her state of mind.

"You don't believe me?" she asked sardonically.

"You're in a unique situation, you're holding yourself together quite well but I've noticed you've been avoiding interaction with the crew except when necessary" he said assessing her in a manner that made her uncomfortable.

"Are you a counsellor?" she asked him.

"Sometimes I am but it's not my main function on this ship" he told her. He gave her the kind of look she remembered her father giving her when he wanted to know the truth and was patient enough to wait for the answer instead of pretty lies. She gave a sigh of resignation.

"I'm not a member of the Navy which makes my position precarious. So when I'm not flying or looking after the Helo there isn't much left for me to do. I asked for some extra duties but-"

"It's a tightly run ship" He said empathising with her.

"Yes, so I've tried to be as unobtrusive as possible" Kate said with a shrug.

"Yet you cleaned the wardroom" he said with an amused smile.

"Well someone neglected to clean the coffee maker for a few years" Kate said glibly. He chuckled at her.

"Coffee maker is a low priority item" he told her.

"Only until it stops making coffee, then its top priority" Kate scoffed.

"That what the Military taught you?" he remarked, Kate ducked her head as she figured that tidbit of information would make the rounds. There was a difference between rumour and fact and when Mike declared her past military experience of course it would be shared. Just proved how small the ship was.

"That and duct tape will fix just about anything" Kate quipped. She wanted keep things light because she knew from experience that it was a slippery slope of a conversation that went from people asking her what she did to wanting to hear war stories. Something she hated talking about because people liked to glorify it all and make it into a huge deal while she was more of a low key and pragmatic person.

"I knew you had a military background though I thought perhaps you were dishonourably discharged considering how the XO doesn't seem to like you but I was wrong about the reasons. It's something else" He remarked.

"Australia thrashed America in the Rugby League World Cup last year" Kate offered with a smile. She was beginning to wonder how many stupid excuses she could come up with as to why Mike was an asshole to her. The Master Chief narrowed his eyes at her, he had a gift at making her feel like he could see right past her as she could tell he didn't believe her for a second but luckily he was not game enough to push it.

"XO does like his sports" he said accepting her answer but she knew she wasn't going to fool him about anything.

"Who doesn't? So I was wondering where would be the best places to escape the sun and the heat for the next few days?" Kate asked him changing the topic as she started to feel an uncomfortable need to leave,

"Helo Bay 2 would be the ideal location, they'll be moving the Helo out tomorrow morning" he told her. Kate nodded acknowledging what he was saying.

"Ok, well I should head back into an unrestricted area. Thanks for coming out here and warning me about the restricted zone. I'll remember next time" Kate said, he gave a nod and Kate took her leave and started to walk away.

"Lassiter" He called out, Kate stopped and turned to face him.

"Yes?" she replied.

"You're going the wrong direction" he informed her. Kate gave an embarrassed smile as he gestured to the direction she should be walking in.

"Right, thank you" Kate said.

* * *

2 days later,

The ship had been sitting still for the better part of the night and day as the electrical system in the makeshift lab in Helo bay One was completely fried. So they had to stop the ship and sink the virus strain samples to the bottom of the ocean to keep them cool. Water restrictions had been revised and become more severe due to the fact that they were now delayed by an indeterminate time. The information about what was happening was sketchy at best but from what Kate understood was that they were waiting for the wind of all things to get them going again.

"I've never seen a day this windless" Lieutenant Green said. He held the pose of a male model in a Kathmandu catalogue as he peered out to the water. So far the wind that had been predicted had yet to show up.

"Well, I'm a gambling man myself. Captain's put all his chips in the middle of the table" Tex said as he sat on the deck leaning back on his hands with his legs stretched out before him. "Sure hope he has an ace up his sleeve" he added.

"It'll be fine" Kate said as she sat in the same position as Tex, she was so glad for her aviator sun glasses as the glare off the water was killer. She was still wearing the same clothes as the day before, she was already starting to feel grungy from the lack of showering and constant sweating.

"I thought you were a realist" Tex said looking to Kate.

"I am, apparently there's a low front coming in from the east. So we should be fine" Kate said, looking to the positive side of things because she was not going to be a Debby Downer.

"Well, it's great weather for golf" Tex said making conversation.

"The way you play it definitely" Kate said with a smile.

"I'm not that bad, unlike you" He said. Kate gave him an incredulous look over her aviator sunglasses at him.

"I'm sorry, why give me a huge bag? if not to fill it with beer?" Kate asked him.

"Golf isn't a drinking game" Tex told her, it was an old argument of theirs. Kate felt the only way golf was tolerable was when you were drunk.

"It should be" Kate said before she took a small sip of her water bottle. It only a quarter of a cup, her 'ration' for the day. It was barely worth carrying around but she did it anyway taking a sip every couple of hours. They still had four days to go, that was if they got the wind to carry them there. Looking around Kate had a feeling many of them weren't going to make it 3 days considering many of the crew were starting to get sluggish in their movements.

She looked over at Rachel who was sitting by the rigging they had used to drop the virus samples into the ocean to keep the chilled. She just stared at the screen making sure the readings never changed or maybe she believed if she looked away for a moment the container might disappear into the ocean. Kate brought her water and food to her figuring it was easier than trying to pry her away from it as she offered to take a turn watching the screen but the woman would not budge.

"Well for starters in golf you swing the club with both hands" Tex told her.

"But how am I supposed to hold my beer if both hands are on the club?" Kate asked him mockingly.

"See what I have to put up with?" Tex asked Lieutenant Green. The Lieutenant gave Tex a look that said that he was the one suffering the most from being around them as if he had to chaperone them. Kate didn't really get why he was hanging around them if he found her and Tex's inane conversations so insufferable but the man stuck it out.

"You could break up with me" Kate told Tex.

"I'm limited on my options of female friends I can utilise as a wingman" Tex informed her. Kate laughed.

"Well, anyone you got your eyes on?" Kate asked Tex, not surprised that he had already scoped out the talent on the ship.

"I'm told there is a no fraternisation policy on the ship" Tex said making a face.

"For the crew, sure. Did you enlist into the Navy?" Kate asked.

"No, not that I remember" Tex said, Kate was about to argue that any interested female was game as long as it didn't interfere with her duties and they kept it discreet when Green spoke first.

"There is no fraternisation for anyone. Civilian or Military" Lieutenant Green informed them in a stern tone. Tex threw a hand up in Green's direction as if to say 'see what I mean'. Kate looked at him with a bemused expression.

"And who are you the Abstinence enforcer of the ship?" Kate asked trying to keep a straight face.

"Could you imagine that, probably run around with a flash light and a ruler" Tex added with a wide smile.

"Well it would be his mission to keep this ship from becoming a den of iniquity. Am I right Lieutenant?" she asked Lieutenant Green looked immensely displeased at her and Tex as they both started to laugh.

"Just let it all out but I'm serious" Green told them in a dark tone.

"Yeah and the one who tries to enforce the rules is usually the one breaking them" Kate said, she noticed that she hit a raw nerve as Lieutenant Green had yet to come up with a witty retort. She slowly rose to her feet."Well guys, it's been fun but I need to get in the shade" she told them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

A few days later,

Kate sat down on the stairs that lead to the upper decks taking a break from her duties of helping Master Chief. Her head hung low as she rested her forearms on her thighs. She blew out a breath as the humid heat was stifling; her skin had a light sheen of sweat. A couple days ago the sweat was rolling off her, now it just clung to her which was not a good sign.

Once she stopped sweating that would mean she would graduate to a whole new level of trouble. She looked to her bottle of water on the ground. It barely had a shot of water, the last of her rations. It was nothing in the grand scheme of things as it wouldn't save her nor would it sate her thirst.

"How you holding up now?" Master Chief asked as he walked up to her and leaned against the wall.

"Great" Kate lied as she lifted her head up and gave him a weak smile. "I was thinking about heading up for some fresh air, cool down for a bit. Get some more medical supplies" Kate told him. She'd been helping him look after crew who had become bedridden with dehydration below the decks. There weren't many people still able to stand let alone walk around. They were nearly out of water, what water that was left was being given to the crew in critical condition who didn't have an IV bag. But even so, Master Chief had informed her that morning that the water they had left wouldn't last the day and there was still at least day and half until they reached Serrana Bank. If they reached Serrana Bank.

"I'll get the supplies. You go take a break" he told her.

"You sure?" Kate asked him, she wished she had his stamina. He nodded.

"Yeah, you're near dead on your feet" he told her. She nodded as she dragged the back of her hand across her forehead and gave a sigh of exhaustion.

"I'm in awe of you, you're holding up better than me and I'm in reasonable clothing" Kate said as the man seemed to have boundless energy even if he was moving at a slower pace he didn't look like he was going to stop and fall down anytime soon. He was dressed in BDUs and boots while she was in her loose racer back tank and crop top with ¾ leg yoga pants and sneakers. It just wasn't fair.

"I'm suffering like everyone else. You need help getting up top?" he asked her as he held out his hand to her.

"No, I can make it" Kate said waving his hand away dismissively. She picked up her bottle of water that barely had a shot of water in it and rose to her feet. "I'll be back in half an hour" She told him.

"Get some sleep and come back in a few hours. I'll call down for help if I need it" he told her in a firm tone that made it clear he was ordering her.

"Ok, thank you" Kate said to him, he gave a nod and Kate turned on her feet and pulled herself up the stairs.

She slowly made her way up through the ship moving towards the Helo bay two knowing it would be a few degrees cooler than her bunk even if it was further away. She was sure she could make it.

She had made it halfway there when she realised her ambition to take a shortcut to the Helo bay was rather overzealous of her. She leaned heavily against the wall of the hallway as she slowly made her way to the ladder she needed to climb to get up to the next level. But she didn't have enough energy to back track to the long way up.

"Why is everything so freaking steep to climb?" Kate mumbled when she reached the outer area before the maintenance tunnel. She took a sluggish breath mustering her energy and pushed off the wall. Her vision clouded with white sparks and her head swooned as she gripped the door frame with one hand and her bottle of water in the other. She carefully lifted her foot up to step in but misjudged it because when she put her foot down it landed on the bottom edge of the door frame. It unbalanced her and she fell forward, hitting her head hard on the way down. Kate had no idea what on as everything snapped out black.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_Naples, Italy._

_In the early hours of the morning, Kate felt Mike smooth a hand over her naked hip and up her flank careful of the bruises that marred her skin. She gave a sleepy yet sexy chuckle as he slowly grazed his fingers up over the top of her shoulder._

_"You going to let me get any sleep?" Kate asked him, a smile spreading across her lips as she felt amazing, but then Mike was good at making her feel so. The man was a drug to her, she never been one to get attached to people especially a man but there was something about him other than his damn fine skills between the sheets._

_She still couldn't believe that they had managed to meet not once but 5 times since their first time in Rota. Considering their schedules it was miraculous though Kate had killed a few frequent flyer miles to meet up with Mike a couple of those times but it had been worth it. He was worth it. She would never admit it out loud but she was in love in. She knew it couldn't last, it wouldn't last but it hadn't stopped her from falling for him. So she had learnt that she needed to enjoy it as long as it lasted and when it was time. Let him go. He had kids, an estranged wife he was separated from. They lived in separate worlds and being pragmatic she knew there was an expiration date on the relationship and she wasn't stupid to ask or take more than what he was offering. Right now, she needed him._

_"You going to tell me what happened to you?" he asked her as he gently nipped her shoulder._

_"It's nothing, I was in a helo crash" she said as she turned her head into the pillow. It was not 'nothing'. She had been substitute co-pilot on a mission to retrieve two Special Forces soldiers from a tribe in the remote Afghanistan territory. But an hour into the mission returning back to base they had come under fire, they barely escaped but the damage to the Helo was enough to make it lose its shit and crash; killing everyone on board except for herself and one of the soldiers in the back. Her stomach churned as bile rose in her throat and tears burned the back of her eyes as she remembered the pilot she had been flying with, his body mangled and crushed into the metal frame of the Helo and the ground._

_She swallowed the lump in her throat and shoved the memory away deep inside her as she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to be in the moment and enjoy her limited time with Mike. They had been lucky to even cross paths like this, for everything to just fall into place and for him and herself to still be interested._

_Mike cursed under his breath. "Any survivors?" he asked as he placed a tender kiss on the side of her neck._

_"Yeah, me and one of the soldiers I went to pick up. The rest were killed on impact." Kate said, Major Jack Lassiter, the one man she owed her life because she was sure if he hadn't gotten her out of the Helo and practically harassed and half carried her back to safety._

_She turned around to face him and gave a sad smile as she traced a hand down the side of his face. His hair was charmingly rumpled and he was in need of a shave._

_"It's no big deal. I've crashed before and survived. At least this time it was minor injuries and once the inquest is finished I'll be back on active duty. So let's not talk about it." she said she lifted up onto her elbow and kissed him. A sweet, hot kiss._

_"We are limited for time" he murmured against her lips when he pulled back from her kiss. He then teased her back with a ghost of a kiss._

_"When do you have to get back to the ship?" she asked him as she tried to kiss him but he teased her by keeping his lips close enough to graze hers. It was simultaneously annoying and incredibly hot._

_"Three hours, I can't be caught doing a walk of shame" he told her before giving her a gentle kiss._

_"We can't have that" Kate teased before his lips came down on hers again as she chuckled but soon her chuckle turned into a moan as she opened her mouth for the slow caress of his tongue._

_*** flash back***_

* * *

Mike was heading down to the lower decks to check on the crew. Make sure the Master Chief and Kate had everything they needed and just to show his presence to the crew. It usually helped the lower ranks to know they weren't forgotten. He had taken the long route down to the lower decks as he wanted to conserve his energy. He had only walked down the steps the deck below the Helo bays when he heard a moan of pain. He thought he was hallucinating for a moment as it sounded like Kate but then he heard Kate curse and knew it was not a hallucination. He followed the noise and found her sitting on the floor of one of the maintenance tubes that the crew used a short cut to the upper levels. She was sitting with her back against the and her knees to her chest with her head down.

"Kate" he said, she looked up at him and it was his turn to curse as she had a gash across her forehead just above her right eyebrow. Blood ran down the side of her face.

"Hmm" She said, she looked a little lost as he moved into the small space, the empty looking bottle of water with blood on it hadn't missed his attention. She gave a rather dopey expression as she pointed to the ladder "I was trying to get to the Helo Bay" she said, he crouched down in front of her.

"You had to take the short cut" he said in a scolding tone as he took a closer look at her wound. It looked superficial but it was hard to tell as there was too much blood and gore on her face.

"Yeah, I was adventurous. You used to love that about me" Kate mumbled, she winced and her eyes started to droop like she was about to doze off to sleep but Mike wasn't having any of it as it would mean him carrying her up to the Helo which would be problematic in his condition and the small hallways. So he cupped her chin and tilted her face up to his.

"Hey, look at me" He told her, Kate seemed to struggle but she locked eyes with him.

"I think I hit my head" she said stating the obvious, if he had any doubt before about her having a concussion. They were laid to rest as she was talking like she had a fried noodle between her head.

"Yeah, you did" he told her as he popped the top of his bottle of water and then moved his hand from her shin to cradle the back of her head. He gently pressed the bottle to her lips. "Here, take a small sip" he ordered her, after she took a couple of sips, he gently lowered her head back against the wall and capped the water bottle again and propped it up on a higher rung of the ladder to get later.

"Hey don't pass out on me yet" Mike snapped at her, she snapped her eyes wide as if trying to keep them open but was failing miserably. He had barely took his eyes off her and when he looked back her eyes had glazed over. He reached for his radio on his shoulder about to call for help when he realised everyone was tapped out and he could easily walk her to the Helo bay where Doc Rios was. "Ok, We need to move, come on, let's get you up" he said in a soft cajoling manner.

"Hmm" Kate murmured non-committally, her head lolling forward for a moment.

"Kate" he snapped, his sharp tone worked to wake her up as she opened her eyes wide and focussed just for a second.

"What? I'm up" She whined, he couldn't help but chuckle at her as she was about to doze off.

"Sure, now come on, let's get you off the floor" he told her, he could easily pick her up bridal style but he wasn't sure he had the strength to carry all the way to the Helo Bay. So he grasped her under the arms and pulled her up to her feet. His head swooned from the quick movement but the sensation disappeared as quickly as it hit him.

Kate on the other hand fell against him like a sack of potatoes. He had to take a step back to steady them as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up against him. She gripped onto the front of his BDU jacket like it was a lifeline and dropped her head on his chest.

"I got you" he mumbled as Kate leaned into heavily into him. He closed his eyes, holding her tightly against him. Without warning, the heat flared with him, the one thing he had hoped to entirely avoid this situation. But it was too late. He knew instantly he shouldn't have held her because there was dealing with his own thoughts, imagination but to physically hold her this close devastated him.

It was painful because he wanted more but couldn't have her, he missed holding her. He missed the feel of her body against his and right now was not the time to reminiscing. He loosened his hold her but immediately pulled her up against him again as she had tight grip on his jacket attempting to drag him down. He felt her body tremble against his and closed his eyes.

"Just hold me for a moment" Kate mumbled into his chest. There was deep sadness in her tone that struck a chord with him. The sense of vulnerability calling out to him to comfort her, he lowered his forehead to shoulder and closed his eyes. Giving her a moment to garner her strength and for him to get back some self control. They really needed to get moving.

"Kate-" he started but she shook her head, not wanting him to say anything. She felt like she had been hit with a two by four and on top of that her senses were spinning. She was beyond exhausted and right now her whole world had shrunk in her. She had to close her eyes as her waves of light shimmered through her vision that felt almost euphoric nature. The only thing that kept her upright was Mike as she could barely register her own body. He was her only tether and right now she needed him to hold her.

"Just a moment, please" she pleaded, she felt his arms tighten around her and said nothing. She turned her head to the side forgetting for a moment that his head was on her shoulder. He of course hadn't forgotten but in that moment instead of dropping her like a bad habit and stepping away as she expected he turned his face towards her. Her heart began to beat a little faster as she got muddled by the heat and maybe the possible brain damage. Whatever excuse she would give herself to tell herself later because right now she had the intense need for him and just wanted to recapture what they left behind those years ago. She wanted to settle her lips over his and kiss him.

The anticipation of the pleasure was heady as she felt his hot breath caress her lips. She barely grazed the corner of his mouth with hers when his shoulder radio crackled to life.

"_XO this is bridge. Report" _Tom's voice said over the radio. It snapped them out of their bubble and Kate turned her face away from his. Mike cleared his throat and reluctantly answered the hail.

"This is XO, I've been delayed. Will Report in 5" he replied. He blew out a breath of frustration but also relief as he didn't know what the hell had gotten into him."We need to get you to the doc" he told her, he grabbed his bottle of water and then looped an arm around Kate's waist.

* * *

"How they going down below?" Tom asked when Mike returned to the bridge and resumed his chair with great relief as he was exhausted.

"Surviving" Mike said, not point in telling the full truth as it wouldn't change anything but darken the mood on the bridge. After he had passed Kate into Dr Scott's care, he had down a round down below decks checking in with Master Chief and the engineers. It was looking pretty bleak but like stated before there was nothing they could but hope they reached Serrano Bank tomorrow or people would start to die.

He looked down at the bottle of water in his hands, his thumb brushing over dried blood and the permanent marker scrawl that read 'Lassiter'. He had picked it up on the way back to the bridge and closed the hatch making a note for the blood to be cleaned up. He knew she was too stubborn to die from something as mundane as dehydration.

"We're making good pace" Tom said making conversation. Tom had been giving out any good news he could just keep morale up or maybe it was Tom's peace of mind to know that he may not have gone too far this time.

"Mike, you got a little something" Tom said gesturing to his own neck and jaw acting like a mirror for Mike. Mike rubbed the area and pulled his hand back seeing flecks of dried blood and gave Tom a nonchalant shrug. He had taken off his jacket but obviously forgotten to check to see if there was blood elsewhere on him.

"I found Lassiter, she had fallen down the stairs. Hit her head pretty good. I took her to the Helo Bay and left her in Dr Scott's care before I went the lower decks" Mike said in a bland tone, Tom looked at him for a long moment and Mike could only imagine what he was thinking. But he was not going show that he cared about Kate as it would send up red flags. Flags he didn't need flying.

"Concussion?" Tom asked out of curiosity.

"I would say so but I'm sure it's the least of her problems" Mike said _and mine…_ he silently added as he wondered what the hell he going to do with her. That ghost of a near kiss was currently plaguing his mind and if wasn't so dehydrated and exhausted he was sure his body would have had more to say on the subject. What the hell had he been thinking almost allowing her to kiss him? He had just stood there dazed but accepting when the woman was a wreck. He really needed to get his head screwed on straight before he did something stupid.

"We're going to make it" Tom told him breaking Mike from his thoughts. Mike looked to him and wondered if Tom was saying for his own sake like a positive affirmation thing or for the crew's sake.

"We've made it this far" Mike said as he knew better than to contradict the Captain in front of the crew.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

"Tex, you smell like you died 4 days ago" Kate complained at Tex who smiled in a smug manner at her. He lifted her legs so they were over his lap as she laid on the ground with an arm over her eyes.

Mike had helped her to the Helo and once he passed her into Rachel's care shoved her bottle of water at her and then disappeared to do whatever the XO did. She didn't realise she was such bad shape until she had Tex, Rachel and Rios surrounding her, asking her many annoying but necessary questions. When Rachel started cleaning her head wound well then she got grumpy as it hurt like hell and did nothing to help her headache.

In fact by the time she was semi cleaned up with rubbing alcohol and laid on the floor like a rag doll. Her headache had reached gargantuan proportions and the doctors weren't giving out any drugs because she had barely any saliva to swallow tablets and her kidneys were already working overtime. Rachel and Dr Rios agreed it wouldn't be wise to prescribe any pain relievers without IV fluids to dilute it or whatever reasons they gave. Kate hadn't really been paying attention, she'd been too distracted by all the noise and the glare of the outside world. All she knew was she wasn't hooked up to an IV which meant she had to tough out the pain. What she wouldn't give to just find a dark corner to curl up and die but instead she was suffering and she was sure she could sleep if Tex would just let her.

"You're no garden rose yourself. You're not falling asleep on me?" He asked as he slapped her thigh just a little too hard for her liking trying to keep her awake just because he could.

"Yeah, I'm trying and let me tell you I'm counting those slaps and for every time you slap me I'm going to slap you back twice as hard when I back to 100%" She promised Tex.

"OOooo I'm quaking in my boots" Tex replied mockingly.

"How old are you two?" Lieutenant Green asked in an exhausted tone, the man's patience was thinning but then who could blame him when he was stuck listening to them gripe. Not too mention with Kara Foster A.K.A. the woman he was fraternising with and not being so discreet about as he kept throwing regretful yet longing looks her way every 10 seconds. She knew their pain well, and it made her soften a little with sympathy for the two even if Green was asshole.

"Old enough to know better but still young enough to keep doing it" Tex said to Green. He looked down at Kate and shook his head. "You're a mess woman" he told her.

"That's good, it was the look I was going for" Kate said, she could still feel the dried blood on her face and neck even though majority of it had been cleaned off with rubbing alcohol.

"How much water have you got left?" he asked concern etched in his features as he was worried about Kate. She looked like she lost a fight and after everything that he had lost. He didn't want to lose her. She held out the bottle of water she had been hugging to her chest for the past hour. He took it from her and looked at it and frowned as he noticed 'Slattery' was written on the side. He noted it and stored the information away for later. It could have been an accidental bottle switch but he couldn't remember seeing the XO carrying a second bottle and he knew given their predicament giving up water rations to non essential crew was a 'no-no'. Kate didn't seem to realise it wasn't her bottle of water otherwise she would have never given it over.

"Not much, you?" Kate commented, he looked to her to see her eyes were closed. The woman was trying to take years off his life. He didn't want her falling asleep and never waking up.

"I'm dry, now open your eyes. Dr Scott wouldn't be impressed with me if you fell asleep and died on me. Though if you did die, then she and I could console one another in our grief" He said thoughtfully. Kate slowly opened her eyes, looking incredibly drowsy.

"Then I will endeavour not to die" Kate told him dryly as a sleepy smile gracing her lips.

"Good, be stubborn" he said as he placed the bottle of water back into her arms, he made sure the name on the bottle faced into her so no one would be able to read it. "Though later we need to talk" he told her.

"Are you breaking up with me?"Kate asked mockingly as she hugged the bottle to her chest.

"Yeah, that's totally it. I was thinking more about strategy and deploying you as my wing woman" he told her. She gave a weak laugh at his joke.

"You and your unrequited love" Kate told him, her eyes slowly closed again.

"You're falling asleep" Tex informed her, squeezing her left calf muscle as he wasn't game to slap her. He was already up to two slaps and knowing Kate when she returned them they would painful instead of playful.

"I'm allowed to sleep. If you're really worried then you have my permission to gently wake me up. I'll be grumpy and very much alive" Kate assured him.

* * *

Serrana Bank,

They had made it and while majority of the crew were partying on the long stretch of beach. Kate was sitting by herself in a dug out hole in the side of a small beach dune like her own personal recliner chair enjoying the view. She had a beautiful view of the beach and the water with the Nathan James in the bay and the afternoon sun.

The last thing she remembered was going to sleep in the Helo bay only to wake on the beach while being hooked up to a coconut via IV line. She had tried to drink water and eat some food with her pain killers but it had ended rather disastrously especially for Rios boots and Tex's pants. But after a change of coconuts and some water she managed to stomach some food. Right now, she was feeling a lot better than she did earlier.

She looked down at the bottle of water in her hands. It was Mike's bottle, his last name written on the side. She had no idea how she ended up with it. Everything from the last few days was feeling a little fuzzy but she didn't forget him holding her in his arms or the fact she had nearly kissed him and he had nearly let her. She shifted uncomfortably in the sand as she wasn't entirely sure what to think or maybe what to believe. But then she was holding his bottle, something he should have never given her.

She blew out a breath knowing she needed to go back to the ship and talk to him preferably after a shower and brushing her teeth. Two things she desperately needed to do besides sleep.

"Kate, all by yourself. Where's your nurse?" Doc Rios asked as he came over to her. He was jokingly referring to Tex who had been annoyingly 'mothering' her until she told him to go enjoy himself and assured him if she needed help she'd yell.

"I would not call Tex my nurse, he'd think it a good excuse to throw me in the nearest body of water calling it my 'sponge bath'. " Kate joked.

"Well, you could use one" Rios told her.

"Hey don't blame me, I would happily have gone for a skinny dip in the nearest body of fresh water but I'm being held back by a coconut" she told him gesturing to the coconut that sat in a makeshift stand made from a few sticks to keep it above her head.

Rios laughed as he knelt down beside her and pulled a pen light out of shirt pocket. The man looked weird in his civilian clothes then it was weird seeing the crew being 'normal' as they all let their hair down, celebrating the fact that they hadn't died from dehydration. She'd be partying too if she was allowed but due to her concussion she was sidelined to rest and enjoy the view.

"So, how's the headache?" he asked as he checked her pupils with the light.

"It's lingering but nothing to complain about" Kate said.

"Nausea?" he asked her.

"Nearly gone. Sorry for about earlier" Kate said grimacing at her earlier episode of vomiting. She really hated being sick especially with an audience.

"You're not first nor will you be the last person throw up on me." Rios assured her but it wasn't really all that comforting.

"You have my sympathy" Kate told him, he gave a chuckle.

"Well, you're looking a bit better. So, I'm going to take out the IV but you gotta take it easy" He advised her, he pulled the medkit bag that hand been sitting next to and opened it pulling out a bag to store away the used medical gear.

"I will" Kate said he unhooked the tube and placed it in the bag.

"I also recommend you have an early night" he told her.

"I was planning on returning to the ship on the next rig back. Do you know when that is?" she asked.

"In about ten minutes, I'm heading back to check on Garnett. Why don't you come with so I can pull out that cannula" He told her as he packed up the med kit and stood up.

"Sounds good to me" Kate said to him. He smiled and offered her a hand up.

* * *

Mike sat back in his chair looking out at the ocean, comfortable in his solitude as the bridge was empty bar himself. He was tired to the bone but at least he was well hydrated, clean and sitting in the bridge that was now a comfortable temperature. His eyes had drifted close for just a moment when he heard soft boot falls, snapping his eyes wide and mentally waking himself up. He looked over his shoulder and there standing in the doorway to the bridge was Kate. She looked better, her eyes didn't look as sunken as they had been but she was still pale, she sported a nice bruise on her forehead with a long cut tapped with small strips of surgical tape. She was back in her skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with boots and the scent of lime and vanilla was light in the air as she obviously showered recently.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. She walked slowly onto the bridge, showing she hadn't fully recovered from her concussion or dehydration. "You should be resting" he told her.

"I've been resting for a while. I just wanted to return this to you" Kate placed his water bottle filled with water on the window sill in front of his chair. She looked mildly annoyed about it. "I also wanted to talk to you alone. Now seemed like a good time since everyone's partying on the beach. You mind if I sit in the Captain's chair?" she asked gesturing to Tom's empty chair.

"Yes" Mike said but Kate didn't listen as she moved to the chair and sat down giving a sigh of relaxation. "Make yourself at home" he said sarcastically.

"Oh, this is nice" She said with a smile as she leaned back got comfy in Tom's chair. "Is your chair as comfy as this?" she asked him.

"You wanted to talk?" he prompted as he knew it wasn't about the bridge chairs.

"Yeah, about what happened earlier today when you found me" Kate said carefully.

"You were dehydrated. Forget about it" he said dismissively as he was trying to forget about it.

"I can't-"

"Kate" he growled in warning but she stared at him head on.

"I don't think you can either which is why you spent majority of the last 5 months being such an asshole to me. Until the last few days where you've done a 180 on me. You're practically civil to, defending me in a briefing and giving me your water rations" she said somewhat accusingly as she pointed to the bottle she had returned.

"I accidentally gave you the wrong bottle. You're reading too much into it" he told her. She shook her head at him, obviously not impressed which made him feel a little annoyed as she should be grateful. Just say 'thank you' and walk away, not complicate things by 'talking'.

"Don't patronise me, I see the way you look at me when you think I'm not aware" She told him. He shifted in his chair uncomfortably as he knew what she was saying and he couldn't argue it. "So just tell me what are you trying to do to me? Is this how you get your kicks?" she asked him in a calm tone but he saw the fragility of her true state flash through her eyes as she continued.

"Cause I remember you being a pretty straightforward guy. That with you there was not a lot of sub context but now I'm not so sure" Kate said, shaking her head as she looked confused.

"You're one to talk" he retorted anger slashing through him as he was not going to be made out as the bad guy.

"Excuse me?" she asked affronted by the hostility she was feeling roll of him. He pushed out of his chair and walked over to her. He placed his hands on the shoulders of the chair in a show of dominance as he leaned over her. Crowding her, forcing her to lean back in the chair and look up at him.

"You're part owner of one of the largest international corporations on the planet yet you decide to jump onto a 120 days mandatory weapons testing on the Nathan James. My ship when you could have passed the job onto someone else" he told her in a scathing tone. She gave an exhausted sigh as she awkwardly slid out of the chair and moved away from him putting space between them.

"How many times do I have to go over this? I came here to do a job, I was the only pilot who wasn't already on a project or injured. It was a last minute fill in. I didn't know it would be the Nathan James or that there would be a pandemic meaning I would stay longer than 4 months on this ship" Kate told him, she folded her arms and glared at him.

"Yeah right" he scoffed. Kate's eyes went wide in disbelief as she couldn't believe they were having this argument.

"My god, your ego is incredibly healthy even after all these years. So you're being an asshole to me because you think I'm testing your resolve to stay with your wife? That I just had to come to James because I'm still holding a torch for you?" She asked incredulously as she moved into his space. It was like she couldn't decide if she wanted space or to get in his face.

"You know you are" He said folding his arms mirroring her body language. Kate shook her head and turned away from him for a moment before turning back to him.

"I'm not here for you, I understood your message loud and clear years ago. You didn't want me back then-"

"That is not true" he said cutting her line of argument before she could put all the blame on him.

"What's not true?" she asked confused, she wondered how hard she hit her head as Mike was not making any sense.

"I did want you, I still do" He confessed without even thinking, it shocked him as much as it did Kate. She was speechless and before she could even clarify what he meant he continued to talk. "I had a family, my kids. I had to go, to give my marriage another try for them" he told her in a firm tone, hoping she would latch onto the argument about their past and not his slip of the mouth about the present.

"I know that" Kate said angrily in a low pained voice. And then it dawned on her and she reared back "Oh my god. I get it now. You being an asshole to me. It's cause you're pissed at me because I didn't try to fight for you all those years ago" she accused him. It was the only way she could make sense of why he had been an asshole to her.

"Yes! If I was so important then why didn't you ask me to stay?" he asked her.

"Because I would have lost you anyway! We both know you would choose your kids over me. That's fine, I understand your reasons. Kids should always come first. It's why I let you go without a fight, I wanted to make things easier for you" She told him. He gave an unamused huff of a laugh as she made it sound like she was some kind of martyr. As if he should have been grateful but it only made him mad because it seemed like neither woman he loved was willing to fight for him. To be with him or not to be with him seemed like some huge sacrifice. Why was he the pity case?.

"Well it didn't and doesn't now." He said scathingly as he wanted to burst her bubble. "I look at you and I remember everything like it was yesterday. I went home and found myself comparing you to my own wife. It took me a long time to get over you all the while trying to keep my marriage together-"

"Talk about holding a grudge, considering you're wearing your wedding ring and have a third child. I'd say you and Christina worked it everything out." She argued scathingly.

"We didn't. My marriage is a wreck, I've lost my son and here you are back in my life reminding of something that felt more like a dream than reality. It's like some kind of cruel and unusual punishment for failing my family and myself. So excuse me if I have a little trouble being in the same room as you!" he shot back at her.

"You think this is easy for me?" She asked indignantly, getting right into his face "The-"

Something snapped inside him and he wrapped a hand around her neck. He pulled her face up to his, interrupting her completely as he kissed her.

One moment, Kate had been arguing with him and he had been glaring at her, and the next his mouth was hard against hers, his tongue sweeping past her gasp of surprise. Kate felt herself sway, caught off balance for the briefest moment, before she clung to him, kissing him back with just as much passion, angling her head to grant him deeper access.

He was kissing her. Tears stung the inside of her eyelids as all the memories came back to her, the past and present melding together as her body reacted completely and sighed into his as pleasure rolled through her. She didn't want it to end, so she wound her fingers through his hair and opened her mouth under his. The soft, erotic slide of his tongue sent a spear of heat through her body.

He groaned in response and his hands smoothed up her back before he wrapped his heavy arms around her and pulled her more tightly against him. He cupped her ass and lifted her up. At the same time, she practically climbed him, coiling her legs around him seeking purchase.

It felt incredible. Better than Mike remembered, better than his fantasies. He couldn't get enough but reality crashed in breaking the spell as the comm to the bridge sparked to life with the watch's update. He pulled back from the kiss, out of breath and felt an unnatural tension fill Kate's body as she unwrapped her legs from his body. He reluctantly yet quickly let go of her, trying to ignore the delicious friction over her body as it slid down his as he turned his back to her and moved past his chair and picked up the phone receiver.

He quickly acknowledged the call and hung up the phone. He was still breathless and in shock over what had just happened that he had took a moment to compose himself before he turned to face Kate but when he turned around she was gone.

"Fuck" he said cursing in pure frustration.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

A couple of days later,

Kate already missed the sand between her toes and the feel of stable ground as nausea rolled through her in a nasty and unwelcoming fashion. She took a swig of water from her water bottle and tried to ignore the rocking and rolling of the ship as they stood in the darkened room of the CIC with Grodin, Major Barker and Mike pouring over maps of a monkey reserve in Nicaragua.

Mike had thrown her through a loop when he practically confessed that he loved her. Sure he didn't say the words but he definitely showed her when he kissed her. That kiss had blind-sided her, the emotions, the memories it had unleashed within her scared the hell out of her. It scared her that after so few years past she still loved him as strongly as she did back then. It scared her because she had spent the eighteen months after Jack's death feeling completely numb to anything but the deep painful ache of sadness mixed with pure rage at her husband for dying and the drunk driver who survived with barely a concussion. After awhile the anger and the sadness faded away and she just felt numb and completely hollowed out.

Nothing really got to her, unless it pissed her off like Evan pulling out that I.O.U. note. Unless it was anger, she didn't feel anything and felt rather like a Zombie. Until Mike managed to break through her numb state and with one heated exchange he managed to make her feel vibrant and alive. It had been a heady experience, one she wanted to repeat but knew given the fact that she had ran away and the current cold shoulder Mike was giving her right now that they wouldn't be repeating anything. Hell, she didn't want to repeat anything until she was sure her nausea subsided as she knew vomiting was not a 'hot' look.

"You alright, Ma'am?" Major Barker asked as he eyed her nervously. It was not the first time since they started the meeting that she had to take a moment to quell her body's urge to vomit.

Concussions weren't fun on dry land, having one on a moving ship in rocky sea conditions was a whole new level of uncomfortable especially if you add in the fact that she was in close quarters with Mike who she had practically climbed the other night like her personal jungle gym. Right now she wanted climb him again but this time she would just latch onto him and inhale his clean masculine scent until she felt better. Obviously in that fantasy he'd be open to it and comfort her but the cold reality was that she had fucked up and not the good kind. The bad part was that she had no clue how to approach him.

"Yeah, peachy" Kate told him, she stepped back to the map table and pointed down at the images. "We could fly over but given the density of jungle canopy it wouldn't be worthwhile use of resources" Kate said giving her assessment as she looked at the aerial photos the UAV had captured of the area.

"I don't agree" Lt Grodin argued. Kate blew out an exhausted sigh as she looked to Grodin. The man just had to contradict her and make this meeting last longer than it should. She just wanted to get the hell out of the room and away from Mike.

"You're just angling for some air time. It's a waste of time for us to be flying around up there and let's not get into the unknown variables of situation" Kate said in a blunt manner not in the mood to be polite.

"Which are?" Grodin asked in a sceptical tone calling her bluff.

"What part of 'let's not get into' did you not understand?" Kate asked him in a patronising manner.

"I would like to hear them" Major Barker said. Kate quirked an eyebrow at him as the man gave her a closed lip smile. Kate took a deep breath before she straightened her back and looked the Major head on giving him a no nonsense look. It helped that he was 5ft 8 the same height as her so he couldn't have the 'higher ground' by looking down at her.

"Ok, intel is over a year old and sketchy at best. There could be a population of survivors in there, it could be civilians or it could be displaced military force with armoury-" Kate started to state the worst case scenario when Grodin cut her off.

"I highly doubt that" Grodin said cutting in.

"Yeah and we highly doubted anyone was alive in Gitmo. We even had zero thermal readings for human life and we all know how that played out" Kate said rather scathingly to Grodin. He immediately closed his mouth and she could tell he was pissed off at her for bringing it up but she didn't care because she wanted out of the CIC and away from Mike. "Now differing opinions aside; I think deploying the Helo is high risk with little reward" She said with a shrug.

"Lassiter, you cleared to fly yet?" Mike asked Kate, she shook her head infuriatingly not making eye contact with him. She had retracted back into her shell again and it was partially his fault. He shouldn't have kissed her, shouldn't have said what he had either. It was a mistake one he had no idea how to rectify and frankly didn't want to. What he wanted an easy solution where he could have his son back; alive and immune to the virus along with his daughters. He wanted them safe and sound and he wanted Kate. Something he hadn't wanted to admit but now he had, well it just made their situation fraught.

"Not yet" she told him in an exhausted tone. She rubbed her forehead which only emphasised to him that she was suffering one killer headache. But then she looked about as good as he felt. She was a little grey in her pallor, her head wound was still healing and bruise had started mottle in some vibrant colours. Add in the bloodshot eyes, dark circles under eyes. It told him her concussion was getting the best of her as she probably wasn't resting enough. He wished circumstances were different, that he could show how he cared and then force her to get some sleep and take care of herself but he couldn't. Not on the Nathan James.

"Sir, I can fly solo" Lt Grodin said to Mike, snapping Mike's attention from Kate. He looked to Grodin with a droll look. He could see why Kate didn't get along with the young Lieutenant. He was pushy and too eager to prove himself in the hopes of being patted on the back. He also didn't appreciate it when the younger ranks tried to overstep like Grodin was right now.

"I'll keep that in mind Lieutenant but for now I'll take Lassiter's assessment. You're both dismissed" Mike told them.

* * *

"You could have backed me up in there" Grodin said to Kate as he followed her through the ship. Kate was heading towards her quarters, but given the nausea and the unfortunate roll of the ship she was going to have to stop by a toilet and give up what was left of her lunch.

"I'll back you up when it benefits the majority" Kate said as she quickened her pace.

"You mean yourself" Grodin said in an annoyed tone as he continued to follow her.

"Exactly, I'm so glad we're on the same page. Now could you go leave me alone?" Kate asked as she had no intention of having an audience when she vomited. She hated vomiting, it was disgusting and incredibly embarrassing only because she had been informed by Jack when she had a bout of food poisoning that when she was vomiting he could have sworn that she sounded she was in a good porno. It had become a running joke of his that left her mortified as he had made the joke that he wished she would be that 'kind' of vocal when they were having sex. Not exactly great for her ego but she let the bad jokes roll off her like water on a duck's back and it helped that she was rarely sick. So such jokes hadn't come up often.

"You don't have the power to dismiss me" Grodin told her in a smug tone, as they reached the closest designated women's toilet. Kate stopped outside door and turned to face him.

"Oh so you're going to hold my hair while I vomit?" Kate asked him, the ship shifted slightly and Kate closed her eyes as she felt the bile rise in her throat. It obviously showed on her face that she was about vomit because when she looked at him. He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Ah no" he told her.

"Then you better leave" She told him, she placed a hand to her mouth and watched him turn tail and practically run. She would have smiled if she wasn't about to vomit. So she turned around quickly and ran into the women's.

* * *

The next morning,

"I think you should check yourself into the Infirmary while I'm off the ship" Rachel told Kate as they were heading towards Decontamination Area where Rachel would suit up in CBR gear to go off ship. Kate had slept most of yesterday skipping dinner and that morning feeling better for her sleep attempted breakfast but thanks to Tex's teasing she ended up losing it which led to Rachel's concern.

"I'll be fine, I just need to get used to the rocking of the ship and take a bucket load of anti-nausea meds" Kate said as they walked into the room. Kate grabbed Rachel's arm as Master Chief, Ensign Mason, Burk and Tex were in the room getting out their gear and talking amongst themselves. Kate motioned for Rachel to be quiet before she carefully tiptoed to Tex who was talking to the men with his back to the door and the women. Tex had just stepped into the legs of his CBR suit when Burk saw her.

Kate put a finger to her lips to say 'keep quiet' to Lt Burk and the others as they were listening and also jumping into their suits. They looked at her oddly but said nothing. Tex who was completely oblivious bent over to pull suit up and Kate took the golden opportunity and slapped his left arse cheek hard, the man crooned in surprise and pain as he half stumbled and turned around to her.

"Morning Sunshine!" Kate said cheerfully with a smile. Burk and Mason burst into laughter while Tex rubbed his sore arse. Master Chief gave a dismissive shake of his head but Kate saw the smile on his lips as he went to pulling his own suit on.

"That's sexual harassment" Tex complained.

"It was barely a love tap" Kate said mocking innocent as she rubbed her palms together as her palm hurt. Tex's indignant expression was priceless and definitely worth a sore palm.

"Love tap?" Tex balked as he rubbed his sore butt cheek.

"Yeah and friendly reminder I got two more slaps to dish out" She reminded him, she chuckled mischievously.

"Two?!" Tex said incredulously.

"I added one more because you made me throw up a perfectly delicious breakfast with all the talk about swaying and the rocking" Kate stopped and pressed a hand to the base of her throat as she was starting to feel nauseous and took a slow breath before she continued. "and I hate throwing up. It's a waste of good food. So if you do it again or enlist anyone to do your dirty work I will hurt you in two fold" she warned him.

"That's unfair and I was testing your sea legs" Tex said to her with an amused smile.

"Yeah well I just tested your centre of gravity" Kate said sarcastically to him as she wore a dark expression. "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to go get some anti nausea meds from Doc Rios" Kate said as soon as she turned her back on Tex. Her dark expression turned into a cheeky grin as she walked over to the door where Rachel stood.

"Enjoy the show?" Kate asked Rachel who vainly trying not to laugh had covered her mouth with her hand smiling. Kate overheard Tex demanding why the other guys hadn't given him a heads up and her smile widened.

"You definitely keep things lively" Rachel told her.

"I warned him" Kate said with a shrug, it wasn't everyday she got to slap a man on the ass and it had been amusing.

"No you didn't" Tex grouched at her.

"Yes, I did and Lt Green and Foster were witnesses" Kate threw over her shoulder at him feeling vindicated.

"_Lassiter, Report to Comms"_ Came over the ship's P.A. system. Kate frowned as she couldn't think of why she would be called to the Communications room. She looked to Rachel who looked equally curious.

"Well good luck on your monkey expedition" Kate said to Rachel as she was P.A. activated again calling her again. Rachel nodded and Kate moved to the door but stopped in her tracks as Mike came to the door way blocking her way and vice versa.

They both looked at one another not sure of who should make the first move as the door way acted as a barrier between them. After a few tense moments, Mike stepped back. They really needed to settle what happened on the bridge because for anyone who was watching would definitely read something out of it. Hell, Kate was finding it hard to decipher on how she was going to walk through a doorway until Mike stepped back.

"After you" He said.

"Thank you" Kate said, she moved quickly through the doorway and tried to ignore how her heart was beating a little quicker as she brushed past him. she didn't dare look back as she knew he'd gone into the room and the hard part about that was she wasn't entirely sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

* * *

"Lassiter" Tom said to Kate a few minutes later, he beckoned her into the communications room.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kate asked as she stepped into the small room. Major Barker closed the door behind her. She noted that the room was empty which was strange given that the room was always staffed around the clock logging SOS calls from the outside world. Tom turned a dial on console and the room filled with the sound of static for a moment before Evan's voice drawled over the airways.

"Evan Lassiter is calling us. Well you in particular but he's been switching between two languages. English and another language no one recognises" Tom said over Evan's voice.

"It's Welsh" Kate said identifying the language as Evan spoke. His and Jack's Mother and that side of the family were Welsh and had been rather adamant about passing it down to future generations. It was one of the many reasons why she learnt Welsh, that and she wanted to be accepted by Jack's family. She also wanted make sure when Jack spoke to her in Welsh she knew exactly what he was saying. What might sound sexy in another language could have a completely different meaning in English.

"Welsh?" Major Barker said making a face, she didn't blame him. It was not a popular language.

"My Husband and Evan are fluent because their grandmother only speaks Welsh. I learnt it-" Kate stopped as what Evan was saying caught her attention. Her world bottomed out and tears filled her eyes.

"What is he saying?" Tom asked as Kate had gone deathly pale and frozen. The only movement she gave was the two tears that streaked down her face.

"He's dying" Kate said, she quickly wiped the tears from her face and eyes quickly composing herself.

"Ah word for word he said 'I am dying from the sickness that has swept the lands'" She said translating what Evan was saying word for word. "It is important that you honour my wishes, accept the skeleton keys to the castle and its moons." Kate knew what Evan was saying in his rather rudimentary use of Welsh. He was giving her his last will and testament in Welsh over a radio. "Are we recording this?" she asked.

"Yes, ever since he began hailing us directly" Major Barker said looking between Kate and Tom.

"How long ago was that?" Kate asked him and Tom.

"About twelve hours ago" Major Barker told her.

"Why am I only learning about this now?" Kate demanded.

"I didn't want anyone tempted to break radio silence for one last chance to communicate with their loved ones. You weren't going to be informed-" Tom started to explain but Kate cut him off as she knew what he was saying.

"After he died" Kate said finishing Tom's sentence. She understood that it was easier to know after the fact that what he was now asking her to endure. "So why was I called in now?" Kate asked him.

"He's been making a lot of references to you and the Nathan James. Major Barker made me aware and I want to know but from what you translated it sounds like he's lost his mind" Tom said realising his faux pas as he thought that Evan might be saying something critical to their mission statement. But given what Kate had translated well it seemed like the man had reached the stage of delirium.

"No, he hasn't lost his mind. Castle is the Lassiter Industries" Kate told Tom.

"The moons?" Barker asked sceptical.

"Satellites. He is speaking clearly and choosing his words carefully. If he was delusional from the virus he would be slurring his speech and he would speak in English." Kate told Tom, her argument seemed weak to Tom.

"Why isn't he speaking English then?" Major Barker asked Kate. Kate threw Barker a dark look as she threw her hand up is exasperation.

"Gee I don't know maybe he doesn't want the Russians and every Tom, Dick and Harry with a radio hearing what he says!" Kate snapped at Barker. She paused and took a moment to compose herself before she turned to Tom. "Please this is vital information; I will explain everything to you later. Please" she implored to Tom, he could hear the desperation in her voice that said she believed there was something more to Evan's words but he also knew that it would be the last chance Kate would get to listen to Evan in real time.

"You don't have to explain, just give me your word you won't attempt to break radio silence" Tom told her.

"You have it" Kate promised him.

"Take a seat and Major Barker will set you up after I have a word with him" Tom told her, Kate obediently sat in the chair he indicated and Tom motioned for Barker to step outside the comms room. They stepped outside keeping the door open so as to make sure Kate didn't break her word. Tom knew if it was his family on the comm he would find it incredibly difficult to sit there and not try to make contact.

"Major, I want you keep an eye on her. Do not leave her unattended" Tom told him.

"Yes, Sir" Barker said.

* * *

Hours later,

"So how much did you get working in the private sector?" Lt Burk asked Tex and Kate. There had been a brief pauses in the transmission from Evan, so she had used the time for a quick shower before dropping by her quarters to pick up her tablet computer and charger. She only dropped by the wardroom to fill her water bottle because she wasn't game enough to eat anything. Tex and Burk sat at the table, Tex drinking coffee while the Lieutenant ate some dinner. Apparently Tex was waiting for Rachel, Kate didn't have the heart to tell him that he might be waiting a while.

"Why do you ask?" Tex asked Burke as he sat back taking a sip his coffee.

"Just curious about what it's like working for dark side" Burk said with a smile.

"We get paid in cookies and souls. Right Tex?" Kate replied in a smart ass fashion as she poured herself a cup of coffee needing the caffeine. She felt washed out and in need of a wake up. she told herself she could rest later. Tex laughed and shook his head at her comment.

"Depends on the job, but like the military there is basic pay is on grading system based on your expertise, level of skill, experience and knowledge etc. Then you get hazard pay on top depending on the job" Tex said giving a more appropriate answer.

"So out of the two of you who gets paid more?" Burk asked with an amused smile.

"Oh, Red without a doubt. I'm just a dumb grunt with a gun. She can speak over 10 languages, a qualified pilot, an engineer and she's a lot prettier than me" Tex said with an easy smile.

"That true?" Burk asked Kate.

"No, sadly they don't pay me extra because I'm pretty and I only speak 4 languages. Though, to be honest I don't know anything about how much people get paid in the 'business'. So I guess Tex is right, I probably do make more in a year than him due to my credentials" Kate said with a nonchalant shrug. She never paid attention to her finances but then she had never had to worry about it when her family died in a freak landslide at Thredbo she had been given compensation as well as the life insurance and the estate her parents had left her. It wasn't much but it gave her enough to survive through university on a shoestring budget and putting majority of her education fees on HECS until she went into the Military. Then the military supplied her with everything she needed; a job, accommodation and food. She always opted for as many deployments as she could and rarely took vacations. It worked out nicely for her.

"You don't know how much you earned last financial year?" Lt Burke asked her, looking shocked.

"Which one? I had to pay taxes to the Australian and American governments who both have different dates for the end of the fiscal year" Kate told him before taking a sip of her coffee. It was true after she met started working for Lassiter Industries she had hired an accountant to make sure she didn't piss off either government by not paying her taxes.

"If you had naturalised and become an American citizen then you wouldn't have had any issues" Tex said to Kate gave a shrug.

"True but I like having dual citizenship. Anyway, I have to get back to Comms" Kate said as she looked at her wrist and noted the time.

"What are you doing down there?" Tex asked her with a mix of curiosity and concern. Kate stopped and turned back to face him.

"Evan" she paused because she was having difficulty saying out the words. "Evan, he's contracted the virus. He's dying Tex" she told him in a soft tone even though her words sounded blunt and harsh to her. Tex dropped his head for just a moment cursed under his breath before he looked up at her. She saw the pain in his features, the same pain she shared. Hot tears burned the back of her eyes and she shook her head as if it could shake away her pain.

"I have to get back" Kate told him, leaving the room. Something she felt she was becoming good at when she didn't want to confront her emotions.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Just letting you all know I'm naming Mike's daughters Zoe and Anna..._

* * *

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Hours later… how many? Kate had had no idea. Sitting in the darkened Comms room tended to warp one's perception on time. Crew members came and went switching shifts but Kate remained vigil at the station they gave her. She knew she could wait until after Evan died and stopped transmitting messages and then listen to the condensed version without all the static breaks but she couldn't. It was too callous even for her.

She told herself to focus on the task at hand and not get bogged down in the reality of what Evan was going through or what he was saying would affect her. She stayed removed from it as much as she could but it didn't stop the painful ache that was building inside her chest and throat. Nor did it stop the feelings of inadequacy and anger at not being able to anything but sit there and listen. But it was all she could do and it would be the least she could do given everything he had done for her.

So she sat at the console with Petty Officer Gibson to her left who looked utterly bored out of her mind as she had been given a shift of Babysitting Kate. Kate completely empathised with her because to the woman was listening to a language she didn't understand so it was a waste of time. She couldn't even look over Kate's shoulder and read the notes she was making as Kate was writing in short hand on her tablet computer with a stylus pen. She wrote in shorthand because she didn't want Evan's last words to be the fodder for the rest of the ship.

And right now she had the headset hanging around her neck as Evan had paused in his long winded and very one sided conversation. Well, the more he spoke the more it was Kate transcribing the confessions of a dying man. She was learning more about Evan Lassiter and his company than she ever wanted to.

She practically jumped out of skin when she felt a tap on her shoulder, she paused in her writing and three a quick look over her shoulder to see Grodin. Unluckily for her, Evan had taken a break and thus would not get her out of talking to Grodin. She needed to cut down on her caffeine.

"What?" Kate asked, Grodin dragged an empty seat up and placed behind hers. He turned it so he was straddling it basically blocking her in but she didn't care about not being able escape. What she did care about was that he was annoying and in her presence.

"We need more flight hours" he said propping his chin on his hands as he looked at her. Kate fought the flare of anger that surged through her. She tightened her grip on the Stylus pen and focussed on her notes because if she didn't she was fairly sure she'd stab Grodin with her pen.

"How did you get in here?" Kate asked him as she paused the recording. Evan had been quiet for a while but she didn't think too hard on it because she wasn't ready to fully face the reality of the situation, to realise that these hours would be the last she would hear from Evan. Someone she considered family.

"Lieutenant's bar opens a few doors" he informed her. She could only imagine him smugly tapping those silver bars on his lapels.

"Fantastic. Now as you can see I'm busy. Go away" Kate told him in a curt tone.

"Listening to SOS calls and writing… what language are you writing?" he asked as he looked at the computer screen and just saw random scribbles.

"It's shorthand" She informed him.

"Wouldn't it be faster to type?" he asked her, in a tone that made it seem like she were sitting at the table with a slab of marble with a chisel and hammer carving Evan's words out instead of writing on her computer. Kate gave an aggravated sigh as she really wanted to be left alone.

"I'm old school. Now if you want more flight hours talk to XO and the Captain when they get back. Until then it's useless to talk about it. Now please leave me alone" Kate said in the most patient tone she could muster.

"Ma'am, if you want to take a break" Gibson said, her tone was hopeful and Kate squashed that hope with a cold look.

"I'm fine" Kate said through gritted teeth before she looked back to her computer screen. She was not going have two 20 something year olds tell her what to do just because they were bored with their lot in life at the moment.

"So you're seriously going to waste your time with this?" Grodin asked her. He words burned her as she wondered who gave him the authority to tell her what was a waste a time or not. But she couldn't be bothered arguing as Grodin would never understand and it was important to her to have him attempt to demoralize her of the notion. So instead of wasting her breath arguing she went with a different tact.

"If you don't leave right now I will stab you with this pen" Kate warned him, she even lifted the pen up to emphasise her warning.

"So many threats" Grodin said in a smug tone as if he were invincible.

"Yes and normally I would have just stabbed you but the Captain prefers I give you a warning, then close my eyes and count to three before I act on my threats. I think he hopes that you'll be smart enough to leave before I become homicidal" Kate told him in a fierce tone.

"Ok, I'm leaving" Grodin said, Kate felt a sense of small relief as she heard the scrap of the metal chair moving away. She lifted the headset and turned on the recording getting back to work.

* * *

"Red, you've been in here for long time. Why don't you take a break? I can take a turn" Tex asked, Kate turned to him, surprised to see him as she could of sworn Gibson had been there a moment ago. He sat in the chair besides her but had his back to the console as he looked at her. She pulled the headset down to around her her neck.

"What's the time?" Kate asked as she read her watch but it was analogue and with no windows it was hard to tell if it was am or pm.

"It's 2pm, the Captain and the others have been back for a while. They were successful, got some monkeys for Dr Scott" Tex informed her. Kate nodded acknowledging him.

"Good for them" Kate said as she sat back and stretched her arms above her head.

"Have you left this room at all?" Tex asked her.

"Ah yeah, I had to get more coffee and drugs. A quick shower a couple of hours ago" Kate said, it had been 5 hours ago. Not that she'd tell him. She pulled out the orange pill container popping the lid and taking out a couple of tablets. "Hygiene is important" Kate commented dryly as she took a sip of her coffee downing the painkillers. Wincing as her tone was a little sharper than what she had meant it to be but lack of sleep and the pounding headache was taking a toll on her manners.

"Have you eaten anything since yesterday's breakfast?" Tex asked her.

"I'm not hungry" She said as sickly shiver ran through her at just the thought of food. She wondered why yesterday seemed like a month ago.

"You need sleep and food" Tex told her.

"What I need to do is finish this" She said gesturing to her computer. Tex gave a sigh as he rose from his chair. He moved to stand behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She jumped at the contact and because of the unhealthy amount of coffee she had consumed for the past two days with no food and only water to dilute it.

"I know this is important to you but you're still healing from a bad concussion. You need to rest, I can sit here and listen to Evan ramble on for a bit." Tex said giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"I appreciate the offer but I'm fine and you don't understand Welsh" she told him. She rubbed her face

"Kate" he implored softly, pushing what little patience she had left.

What she was she supposed to say? That she was listening to her brother in law tell her all about the Lassiter industries and all the things she had wanted to remain ignorant on. Why was it when people were dying they just wanted to unburden themselves? Why couldn't Evan's sins be something innocuous like he did drugs once and didn't like it or maybe something saucy like he preferred polyamorous relationships? His burdens were now hers and she knew they would weigh heavily on her.

But it wasn't the hardest part of sitting there listening to Evan. No, it was that he was the only family she had left and he was dying. She could hear his health decline as his words became slower, his words slurring together and the bleak moments when he got tired of talking to static and wondered out loud if he should kill himself or just keep talking. And she couldn't talk to him, she couldn't tell him that she was hearing him, that it was ok. That she understood if he wants to kill himself because it would be quick and probably least painful way to die. That he should because she didn't want him to suffer, that she supported any decision he made, that even though he was sometimes a pain in her ass; she still loved him like an older brother she never had but she couldn't. She couldn't break radio silence. All she could do was sit in Comms room and listen to him. Acknowledge him and his importance to her by staying and listening to him until he was gone. The length of static between each transmission was growing longer.

Kate grasped Tex's hands that was still on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. She held them in place as she just needed to feel comfort of physical contact. Tears pricked her eyes and her throat burned with the emotions she was barely keeping tapped inside her.

"I know, but I can't do anything but this. He's Jack's brother. I was never able to do anything for him but I can do this, so while appreciate your offer- I just can't" she said not looking at him. She knew if she did, she might break down and she didn't want to cry in Comms or in front of anyone. She took a slow inhale and exhale to get a handle on her fragile control of her emotions. She felt Tex lean his head down so his lips were near her ear.

"Ok, I get it but this ship and I need you" he told her in a low voice. The door to the Comm room opened and Tex stepped back. Kate missed the warmth of his hands on her shoulders. "So, I'm giving you an hour and then I'm going back here with a tranquillizer gun and making you get some rest" He reached over her and picked up the coffee cup.

"Also no more coffee and don't give me that look" he told her as Kate shot him a dark look, she knew he meant well but she didn't appreciate him stealing her coffee or telling her what to do.

"One hour" he told her.

"Two" Kate bargained.

"One and half hours. That's it" he said before he left the room before Kate could even muster a reply.

* * *

Mike leaned back in his chair in his stateroom staring at his computer at the blank word document. He was supposed to write up a report on El Toro but just couldn't seem to find the words. Or maybe he just didn't want to give the asshole a report let alone a footnote in his logs. He was about to sit forward and begin typing when a knock sounded at the door. He gave a sigh and gave up on getting the report done and closed the window down on his computer before he got up from his chair to answer the door.

When he pulled open the door, he was surprised to see Kate with a tablet computer in her hands. She looked like death warmed over, he thought she looked rough around the edges three days ago but today she had reached a whole new level. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, her skin was deathly pale only making her head wound the more gruesome as the bruise surrounding the cut had turned a mottled green and yellow. The dark circles under her eyes made her bloodshot eyes look slightly sunken. She looked so incredibly exhausted and fragile that one touch could break her. Probably would.

"Hey, you wouldn't know where I can find the Captain would you?" she asked despondently.

"He should be on the bridge or in his own stateroom" Mike said, he ached to pull her into his arms and take her bed. Give her solace, force her to sleep because she looked like she desperately needed it. Hell he could use a few quiet hours in bed himself, he still remembered how peaceful it felt to just lie in bed with her.

"He's in neither, so could you do me a so favour and call for his position on your walkie? I need to talk with him and it's important. Not urgent but yeah. I just need to talk to him and I guess you too" Kate said waving a hand around as it seemed her brain had short circuited.

"What's going on?" Mike asked her.

"It's something I'd prefer not to discuss in the hallway. May I?" she asked gesturing to come in. Mike nodded and stepped back, letting her in. Once she was in he checked the hallways and saw no one was around before he closed the door and turned back to Kate.

She sunk down into the guest chair that sat next to his desk and placed the tablet computer on the desk. Mike pulled out his chair and sat down giving Kate her full attention.

"I don't know if you have been made aware yet, but Colorado safe zone lost containment of its quarantine zone. Evan Lassiter contacted the ship directly over 36 hours ago" Kate informed him, it was no wonder she looked despondent and he knew whatever came next would not be good news like he needed more bad news on top of the events of the last 24 hours. He was tempted to pull her out of the chair and into his arms but knew she was not here for comfort or to grieve. She was here with a purpose and it would be easier if he kept his distance.

"I haven't been brought up to speed yet but the Captain made me aware that you had been contacted just not the finer details" Mike said sitting back in his chair and looking at her.

"Ok, well he –" Kate started but tears welled in her eyes and the last strings she had on her tightly controlled around her grief were slipping. She didn't want to cry, not in front of Mike and that's when she spotted the cut on his cheek "what happened to your face?" Kate asked him latching onto the topic of his injuries because it meant she didn't have to think about Evan or her grief. It looked like he had been pistol whipped in the face.

"Nothing to concern yourself with" he said dismissively.

"You trip and fall onto the butt end of your rifle? I thought the navy taught you better" she dead panned as she pushed out of the seat and walked around the room. She moved to the far wall keeping her back to Mike looking at the inbuilt book case checking out the collection of folders and books.

"Monkeys got the better of me" he replied in a tone that said 'drop the subject' but Kate ignored it.

"Oh so, did the US Navy declare war on the Nicaraguan monkey population?" she asked wryly, a small smile playing on her lips.

"You want to tell me why you need to talk with the Captain?" he asked bringing them back to the topic she didn't want to discuss.

Kate picked up a photo of his kids that he kept on the shelf that had his personal collection of books. She looked down at the smiling faces of his kids. It looked like the photo was about a year old as the youngest of the three looked to be around two years old. It was the first time she'd seen a photo of Mike's third child. She wondered what her name and she couldn't help but notice how his youngest daughter looked nothing like Lucas and Zoe had dark brown reddish hair and blue eyes just like Mike but the youngest was pale blond hair and green eyes. He had beautiful children, it made her ache for him that he was so far removed them and that his son was dead.

Mike watched Kate as she looked down at the photo of his kids. She had a wistful smile on her face. It was the only personal item he had on him besides his father's pocket watch his mother had given him when he graduated from college. The watch he kept it locked in the top drawer of his desk with letters he wrote to his kids. The photo he kept on display, he needed the visible reminder of why he had to keep going. But he knew Kate would zero on one very obvious fact about the photo besides that Christina was not in the photo nor was there a photo of her in his possession. He found having a photo of his wife had a rather negative effect on him, it just reminded him of all the fights they had, every harsh word shared and all he could think was why they couldn't capture the happiness they had at the start of their marriage and make it last. Then there was the 'Kate' factor, while he didn't have a photo of her. He had a very good memory.

"I know what you're thinking" Mike said to her, gearing himself ready for Kate to point out the obvious that his youngest daughter Anna wasn't biologically his. Yes, his marriage was a mess and Christina had led him to believe Anna was his but by the time Mike figured it out he already loved Anna. It was why he forgave Christina for the indiscretion because she was so adamant about them staying together, that she loved him. It was amazing how he could read people, know when he was being lied to but he always ignored his instincts with Christina because he always thought he was reading too much into the situation. Or at least that's how Christina threw it in his face.

"What am I thinking?" Kate asked him as she turned to face him.

"That she's not my biological daughter but I love her like she is my own" he told her in a vehement tone, it meant he would broker no argument about it. He was so used to Christina taking the cheap shots.

Kate looked gave a shake of her head as she was surprised and felt pity that he would feel the need to say as much to her. She knew if Mike was ashamed of his youngest daughter he wouldn't display a photo of her in plain view.

"I wasn't thinking that all. I was thinking your children are beautiful and how I'd forgotten about how much Lucas looked like a miniature version of you." she said with a soft smile. The kid was cute and he really took after his father.

It pained her slightly to know that Mike would miss out on what Lucas would have become. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through, she had grieved the loss of her husband and her family. While their deaths had been traumatic she could only think that losing a child would be substantially more painful. Children were supposed to outlive their parents.

"Yeah" Mike said in a strained voice. Kate looked up from the photo and saw the grief stricken expression on his face as he looked at the frame in her hands. She gripped the picture a little tighter as she really wanted to go to him and console him in his loss but was afraid he wouldn't accept her.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." She said with genuine sympathy. "Have you had any news about your wife and daughters?" she asked him. Mike pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Only one call and that was a month ago. They're in safe zone in Deer Park with my mother. There hasn't been any further contact" he told her. Kate nodded and returned the photo to its place on the book case knowing she had put off the conversation about Evan long enough. She could tell Mike needed the change of topic.

She moved back to the chair by his desk and sat down in it, slouching as she just didn't have the energy to sit up properly.

"I've transcribed everything that is relevant to Nathan James as the Captain asked. Evan spoke in Welsh knowing there were very few people who would understand what he was saying. I'm not sure whether the virus deteriorated his mind cause a lot of it is rather childish-" Kate paused and turned away covering her eyes with a hand. She really didn't want to cry because she was sure if she started it would be messy and hysterical and she hated such displays of emotions especially when it was her putting on the display. So she took a moment to compose herself. After a shaky inhale and exhale, she lowered her hand and cleared her throat.

"He's given me full ownership of Lassiter Industries" she told him.

"I wouldn't think there was anything left" Mike said, grateful for the change of topic as it took the spotlight off him but not so grateful as he saw how much pain Kate was in.

"Besides Tex? Actually, there is more than-" A knock sounded at the door stopped Kate mid sentence.

"Sir, It's Jeter" Master Chief's voice boomed through the closed door. Mike looked to Kate who gave a wave of her hand which he interpreted to say 'go ahead'.

"Come in" Mike said he leaned back in his chair as Master Chief came into the room. The man must have expected him alone as he stopped in his tracks looking between Kate and Mike.

"Sir, I was hoping to have a private word" Master Chief said. Mike was about to give him a time to come back but Kate cut him off.

"I'll see myself out" Kate said as she slowly pushed up from chair and Mike stood up out of habit. She looked a little dazed when she stood up which concerned Mike to the point he reached out to steady her but whatever it was passed and he dropped his hand away as she looked to him. "Commander, if you could look over the transcripts and pass them onto the Captain I would appreciate it." She said taking her leave or in Mike's opinion running away but he didn't blame her. Though he wished he could make her stay.

"I will" Mike assured her. Kate gave a nod and left the room, Master Chief closed the door behind her and turned to him. Judging by the grim expression on Jeter's face; Mike was not going to like whatever they had to discuss.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Kate felt fragile and completely washed out as she walked away from Mike's quarters. She had over done it and she wished it had been worth it but she wasn't too sure of herself anymore. But she knew what she needed now and that was to get back to her quarters and lie down. She had slowly made her way past the wardroom on her way to her quarters when she heard Tex call out to her. She knew she was deep trouble as she had dodged his threat about the tranquilizer gun by relocating to CIC. A room he didn't have open access to unless he was escorted by Lt Green or a commanding officer like Tom or Mike.

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him as she knew it was best to face the music right now than later but when she turned. She did so too quickly as her head swooned. Stars streaked across her vision and her limbs started to tingle. She knew she was definitely going to pass out as she felt her legs weaken. It must have shown her face as Tex was at her side in a flash and pulling her up against his body.

"You hid in the CIC and now you're paying for it" Tex said to her. His way of saying 'I told you so'. She barely registered the concern as her vision was just waves of sparks and black speckles. She wasn't even cognizant of what her body was doing as she could feel anything.

"I'm going to pass out" Kate promised and warned him.

"It's the coffee in combination with the concussion, you need food" Tex told her but Kate didn't hear him as she was unconscious. Tex gave a sigh and shook his head as he carefully adjusted Kate in his arms and pulled her legs off the floor so he could carry bridal style.

"Tex" Tom said in greeting, his face filled with concern as he looked at Kate. He was on his way to the wardroom to get himself a cup of much needed coffee.

"Commodore" Tex said with a smile as he adjusted Kate in his arms. The man's sense of humour had no bounds as Tom couldn't see the humour in seeing Kate unconscious in Tex's arms especially when he felt he played a hand in her falling to pieces.

"What happened?" Tom asked as moved closer to take a look at Kate.

"All caffeine, no food or sleep." Tex said, Tom nodded as he understood that Kate had pretty much knocked herself out. "I'm just going to take her down to the infirmary. Let the doc fix her up" Tex added as if it had to be said out loud.

"Well, carry her fireman style and watch her head. I'll need her cleared for flight at some point in the future." Tom advised Tex.

"Good point" Tex said as he carefully rearranged Kate so she was over his shoulder. "See you round" he said with a wave.

"Oh my god, is she ok?" Rachel asked with deep concern as she had come to the Infirmary to grab some extra supplies to get to work when she nearly ran into Tex carrying Kate like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.

"Yeah, you should take a good look at her Doc. You could end up like Kate if you don't get more sleep" Tex half joked as he carefully laid Kate down on the bed in the main room of the Infirmary. Rios who had been the small room off the side with bunk beds; changing an IV bag for Ensign Mason finished up quickly and came back into the main room.

"What happened?" Rios asked him.

"A few galleons of coffee and no sleep. She passed out but I caught her before she did any more damage to herself." Tex said stepping back to get out of the way as Rachel and Rios moved in on Kate's prone form. He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. Underneath his armour of humour he felt a deep concern for Kate as he hated seeing Kate tailspin out like this.

"How long has she been out?" Rios asked as Rachel tried to get Kate to wake up but much to Tex's and the other's concern she barely grumbled her annoyance.

"From the wardroom to here… not that long" Tex said wishing he had timed it or better yet gotten on her case hours ago so that she hadn't ended up here like this. But he knew that Kate was stubborn, she proved it by hiding in the CIC from him. Rios nodded and turned his attention to Kate.

"Kate, can you hear me?" Rios asked Kate as took over Rachel's previous task. He checked her pupils as Rachel took Kate's blood pressure and measured her heart rate informing Rios who gave nod acknowledging the information. "Kate?" he said trying to wake Kate up, she barely moved. Rachel and Rios exchanged a concerned look before he spoke.

"Ok I'm going hang a rally pack and get some oxygen into her. Dr Scott could you set up an vitals monitor" Rios asked her, Rachel nodded.

"Of course" Rachel said, she turned away and got to work finding what she and Rios needed and got to work.

"Is she going to be ok?" Tex asked as he watched Kate get hooked to an IV bag and a heart monitor before Rachel draped a blanket over Kate to keep her warm.

"I'd give her a few hours of rest and fluids, she should come round" Rios assured him.

* * *

Later that evening in the wardroom,

Mike sat to the Captain's left as Tom sat at the head of the table with Jeter to his right. Mike looked down at what he would normally consider a pretty decent dinner but tonight his stomach wasn't going to let him enjoy it as nausea rolled over him. Mike was not an adventurist eater, while he didn't mind trying new foods he preferred to know upfront what he was eating. He also was not a fan of eating Monkey or other exotic animals. He was a steak man and right now when he looked at the meat on the plate he just thought of monkey.

"Well Doctor Scott says she's close to testing a vaccine on the monkeys flicks out serviette for his lap. "We set course for home, there's no sense in idling here" Tom said as he snapped his napkin out of its fold and draped it over his lap.

"Agreed" Mike said as he pushed his dinner plate away from him deciding tonight he would not tempt fate.

"I know I'm not your mother but you gotta eat Mike" Tom told him as he started to dig into his dinner. Completely unaffected, Mike wished he felt the same.

"I think I'm becoming a vegetarian" Mike said, he winced at his own words as he picked up his cup of coffee. He really didn't like the idea of giving up meat.

"Did you inform the galley?" Tom asked with a wry smile before he took a bite of his dinner. He would love to see the chef's reaction and Mike attempting a vegetarian diet.

"I'm hoping to get over it" Mike said sarcastically, Jeter gave a closed lip smile before he took sip of his coffee.

"So what's on your minds?" Tom asked them as it was rare for the three of them to have the wardroom to share a meal unless he instigated it as Master Chief usually ate in the Mess with the other non commissioned officers and enlisted crew. Mike and Jeter exchanged looks.

"We were wondering if you had given any thought as to what we're going to tell the crew about Nicaragua" Mike said tentatively. He hadn't broached the subject with Tom yet but then they had been giving one another a bit of a wide berth due to what happened with El Toro and how they butted heads yet again when Mike demanded that they go back and free the village of El Toro and his men. His blood still boiled a little over what happened and how they hadn't been able to save Delgado's eldest daughter. It only made him think of his daughters and the grim reality of what could be happening to them and how he was sitting on a ship doing nothing about it.

It was the rub of their current situation, they had a mission that would benefit the greater population of the world. If Doctor Scott could make a vaccine which was just another issue because while Tom believed it would take very little time, Mike disagreed. He wasn't virologist but he knew medical advancements took time and more than one doctor with 34 monkeys. And the longer they stayed on a mission with no end in sight the more the crew and himself lost faith because they wanted to go home. They wanted to find their families.

"It's our opinion sir, that they be spared the details" Jeter said carefully, as he like Mike knew it would not be a popular view for Tom to swallow. In fact to prove his assumption, Tom placed his knife and fork down and propped his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers looking somewhat pensive.

"DCA crew saw blood all over our uniforms" Tom said stating the obvious. Jeter inclined his head slightly as they knew there would minor details that would need to be covered up.

"We encountered some hostiles like at Gitmo. They don't need to know about the village, El toro-" Jeter paused.

"Or our lovely dinner" Mike added in the brief pause Jeter had made. Nausea rolled through his stomach again about the monkey soup and sitting at the table with child molesting drug lord.

"Or the sick people, how close we were to them. The fact we couldn't help" Jeter said rather gravely. It was something that sat heavily in all their minds. They had been on the ship away from the real world for months. They heard about the virus, seen the dead bodies but encountering the infected people who were still alive felt entirely different, these people were still alive for one and they were begging to be saved. Something they had no power to do. It didn't sit well with any of them.

Tom placed his knife and fork down and propped his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers as he gave the subject the gravity it deserved.

"You don't think they could handle it?" Tom asked them in all honesty as he looked between Mike and Jeter.

"It's our job to carry the weight of this. Not those kids out there" Mike told him emphatically, he felt morale would take a big hit if the crew knew the truth and it would be hard to come back from it. It was something he and Jeter had discussed about earlier and agreed on.

"We've talked to Tex and the lieutenants. Everyone's on the same page. As soon as Mason's well enough, we'll give him the drill." Jeter said.

"It's need to know, it's how we've always functioned" Mike said to Tom.

"Well some things have changed. We were all in the dark for four months up in the Arctic. People didn't like that much. They took our word for it that we were in the dark with them. We start keeping information from them now-" Tom started but Jeter interrupted him.

"I understand Sir but" Jeter looked to Mike "the crew needs hope" he said. Tom looked down at the table in front of him for a moment; weighing their words.

"I'll think on it" Tom said telling them not so subtly he didn't agree with their idea of keeping what happened in Nicaragua quiet.

"There's also another matter to be addressed" Mike said changing topic to another pressing manner.

"Which is?" Tom asked as he picked up his knife and fork again.

"Lassiter" Mike said. Tom nodded and looked concerned as he carved up the meat on his plate.

"I haven't been able to talk with her yet. I'm waiting for Rios to inform me when she's conscious" Tom said before he ate a bite of his dinner, Mike frowned.

"What?" he asked. Tom picked up his coffee and took a swig; washing his food before he spoke.

"Lassiter is in the Infirmary. My fault, I should have waited until she was in better condition but I thought Evan Lassiter might be trying to tell us something important. I didn't think it would turn into nearly a 3 day burnout on Comms" Tom said wincing as he had dropped the ball with Kate. They needed her to be in top condition in case they required her Helo piloting skills.

"I think there might be something useful to come out of it" Mike said, a little taken back by the knowledge that Kate was in the infirmary but not entirely surprised either.

"How?" Tom asked.

"Lassiter dropped off the transcripts to my office earlier this afternoon. I haven't finished with yet but so far it's an interesting read" Mike said.

"As callous as this may sound. Is there anything worthwhile for us?" Tom asked.

"I believe so but I think she hasn't been entirely transparent with us" Mike said being honest as he had read half of the transcripts and felt like Kate was making inferences with background knowledge that only she could possess. So it was hard to understand the connections she was making.

"Ok, well I'll take a look and give Lassiter some time to rest before we talk with her" Tom said.

* * *

Kate stirred awake and frowned as she was not in her quarters but in the infirmary hooked up to an IV and nasal cannula feeding her oxygen. She felt better than before even if she was somewhat groggy. She looked to her right and saw Rios with his back to her writing on a clipboard or so she assumed. A sickly shiver ran through her body, she sluggishly pulled the cotton blanket up from her waist to cover her arms.

"Good Afternoon" Rios said cheerfully, Kate looked up at him and gave him a sleepy smile.

"Hey" she answered drowsily. She wondered why the lights in the room were so bright as she closed her eyes to block out the glare of the fluorescent lighting.

"How do you feel?" He asked as he put his clipboard to the side and started to check her vitals.

"Cold" She answered as she winced when he checked her pupils with a pen light.

"I'll get you another blanket in a second. Any nausea, headaches?" He asked her continuing down what felt like a never ending checklist when all she wanted was to sleep in a darkened room.

"Yeah fairly bad"

"On a scale of ten. Ten being the worst"

"About a 6 though the nausea is about a 13" Kate said as she closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing heart as her body was gearing up to throw up. She took a slow breath and felt relieved as the urge to vomit receded slightly on the exhale.

"Ok, I'll give you a shot of Maxolon, it should curb the nausea and I'll get you to eat some food before I administer any more medication" He told her.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"Roughly 18 hours. But you drifted in and out for a bit" He informed her, Kate's eyes snapped open at the information.

"18 hours" Kate repeated in disbelief as she couldn't believe she had slept so long and still felt lousy.

"Yes, if you had followed my medical advice. You wouldn't be in here" He said in a gently chiding manner, but she misinterpreted his tone and guilt washed through her as she knew he was right.

"I'm sorry but I –" Kate stopped for a moment as she didn't want to explain her reasons to him or anyone. She was always pragmatic but neglecting her health as she had contradicted one of her own tenets. So she just shook her head as she couldn't believe how irrational she had become. "I have no excuses, I'm just sorry for wasting your time" She said, she went to pull the blanket off and leave but Rios placed a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"Whoa, hold on there. You're not going anywhere until I'm ready let you go. Now lay back down" he informed her.

"What?" Kate asked him as she felt a little confused as to what was going on. She thought he was pissed off at her for doing the right thing. She didn't seem to get anything right lately and all she wanted was to do was be alone with her grief and failure.

"I'm not releasing you from the infirmary. Now, lie back and rest otherwise I'll sedate you" He warned her.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea but I'm just exhausted. I can go back to my quarters and rest. I have nothing else to do"

"You can rest here, no one is using the bed' He told her, Kate opened her mouth to argue when the door to the Infirmary opened. Rios threw a smile over his shoulder as Rachel stepped into the room with a cup of steaming tea and then closed the door behind her. "Dr Scott" he said in greeting.

"Doctor, how's your patient?" She asked as she came over to other side of Kate's bed and pulled up a stool.

"Finally awake, though a little drowsy" Rios said as he injected Kate's IV line with a a clear liquid.

"Would you like to take a break? I can stay here for a while and monitor Kate and Ensign Mason" Rachel said to him as she sat down.

"That would good, Thank you. I'll be back in half an hour if that's ok" Rios said. Rachel gave him a closed lip smile and nodded.

"Of course, take your time" Rachel said to him, Rios nodded and quickly did a handover of information that went over Kate's head but after a moment, Rios left the room closing the door behind him.

"Hey" Rachel said with a warm smile. "How are you?"

"Tired, a little cold" Kate said as she tried to pull the blanket up over her arms.

"Here, let me get that for you" Rachel said, she put her cup of tea down and then helped pull the blanket up to Kate's torso before grabbing a second blanket and draping it over Kate. "There we go. Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked in a kind and somewhat maternal manner.

"No,I'm good now. Thank you" Kate told her.

"You're welcome" Rachel said as she retook her seat and picked up her cup of tea.

"So I kind of expected Tex to be in here and you to be in your lab" Kate said making conversation. Anything to distract her from her thoughts as they were a jumbled mess that she didn't want to unravel.

"It's dinnertime, I'm sure he will drop by and visit later"

"Why aren't you eating with him?" Kate asked her, deciding to feel Rachel out for Tex. Kate already had her suspicions that Rachel had a thing for Tom. Kate had seen the two talk... well argue and it hard not to miss the chemistry between the two. Kate could have warned Tex but then Tom was married and deeply in love with his wife or so Kate recalled. So she figured Tex might have a chance, a very slim one but still a chance.

"Because I'm here with you" Rachel said with a smile, apparently Kate wasn't as subtle as she thought and she barely asked one question.

"Fair enough, so I have been kind of been out of the loop with what's going on" Kate asked.

"I'm no better in that regard myself. Though I did hear about your brother in law, I'm sorry for your loss" Rachel said to her with empathy. Kate felt a lump in her throat form and tears well in her eyes as she nodded.

"Thank you" she rasped as she didn't want to think about Evan.

"I can't imagine myself in your shoes, slowly listening to someone I care for succumb to this virus" Rachel said, Kate cleared her throat and gave a sardonic smile.

"You know what's funny?" Kate asked her.

"No, what?" Rachel asked.

"I've outlived all of my family, my husband and his family" Kate said she gave a sardonic laugh even though it wasn't funny. It was incredibly painful.

"Well at least you still have friends" Rachel said to her.

"Yeah, you and Tex" Kate said with a smile as she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before they fell.

"You consider me a friend?" Rachel asked genuinely surprised to hear Kate say as much.

"Yeah, you have seen me naked and you're here" Kate told her with a smile. The two chuckled and brevity of the comment lightened the mood in the room.

"Well, I didn't feel like drinking tea alone" Rachel said trying to play it cool even though it felt incredibly comforting to hear she had yet another person she could lean on if needed.

"If I wasn't awake would you be here?" Kate asked her.

"Yes" Rachel said before taking a sip of her tea. Kate narrowed her eyes at Rachel for a moment.

"Are you one of those people who watch their bed partner while they sleep and have epiphanies?" Kate asked, Rachel reared back slightly at the question as it felt a little left of centre.

"No because that would be weird" Rachel said because she knew it was the appropriate response even though she actually did do it.

"And a little creepy unless it's a post coital thing which this is not by the way" Kate told her, as if it needed to be clarified.

"I'm well aware of that" Rachel assured her with a chuckle.

"Good, because you're a good looking woman but I'm not interested interfering with the love triangle you have going on" Kate said as she snuggled deeper into her blankets.

"Love triangle?" Rachel said as she choked on her tea.

"Yeah you, Tex and The Captain" Kate told her, Rachel shook her head but a light blush infused her cheeks.

"The Captain? Oh no- we're- no"

"Uhuh, I see the way you two argue with one another. One day you're either going to deck him or shag him"

"He's married" Rachel said.

"Yes, I realise this which is why when I'm better. I'm going to teach you how to throw a punch" Kate informed her.

"If I'm going to punch anyone it might be Tex" Rachel told her.

"He has a good heart" Kate said defending Tex.

"He can be a little overwhelming" Rachel said before taking a sip of her tea.

"Hmm, it's his manly protective instincts to want to care and nurture beautiful women. His words not mine" Kate said as Rachel looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Charming" Rachel remarked.

"Yes, he can be" Kate said in an amused manner.

"So have you and Tex?" Rachel drawled in a manner that made it sound like Rachel wanted to know if Kate and Tex had a sexual relationship. Something that made Kate laugh and shake her head.

"No, never. I'm the widow of one of his closest friends. Completely off limits and even so we don't have that kind of chemistry" Kate said making a face as she couldn't see herself even making out with the man and the thought of having sex with him made her want to laugh again. "So tell me how's the lab work going?" Kate asked changing the topic.

"I've injected the monkeys with vaccine prototypes. It's now all a matter of waiting and seeing"

"Yeah, well I hope it works out" Kate said her mood sobering up.

"I agree but to be honest I don't hold any hope. Developing a vaccine take time and Captain Chandler gave this speech to the ship like I'm some kind of miracle worker" Rachel said blowing out a frustrated breath.

"The things I miss while I'm unconscious" Kate drawled with a smile.

"I know it's going to go sideways. He jinxed it and he will come down on me hard-" Rachel stopped mid rant as she realised what she said as Kate was grinning like an idiot. "Grow up" Rachel said giving Kate an admonishing look.

"What? I'm smiling because I didn't know you were superstitious" Kate said.

"Yeah right, I guess it's a good sign that you still have your sense of humour" Rachel said shaking her head in mock disapproval.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: I know I forgot to say it last update.. So I'll do it now.. a big THANK YOU for the reviews and the favourites! they make me smile and welcome to all the new readers. Please enjoy :-)_

* * *

**Chapter 17**

* * *

Two days later,

Kate sat down in the chair that Tex had pulled out for her at the table in the wardroom. She felt a little more human than she had two days ago but it didn't feel like an improvement. If anything it made her feel worse as she was now cognizant of every ache and pain in her being. Her mind felt vague with fatigue but she had full awareness that Evan was dead and if it tore her up in a way she never expected it to.

Dr Rios had kicked her out the infirmary yesterday afternoon and she had gone back to her quarters where she continued to sleep. She didn't bother to get up except to have a shower or get something to eat and drink etc. But she waited for the lull in the meal times so she wouldn't run into anyone. It worked out for her as she was well practiced at keeping out of sight and Tex gave her space until today. He had decided that they needed to have lunch and so she got up and dressed into her black skinny jeans and her white v-neck pocket t-shirt before pulling her hair into a messy bun.

As she sat at the table looking down at a dark scratch on the table so as not to make eye contact with anyone all she wanted to do crawl into her bunk and sleep. Sleep was her escape and when she was asleep she didn't have to think about Evan or the burdens he had shared with her.

When she slept she also didn't have to remember how she sat there for over 5 hours listening to static; waiting for him to come back even if most of what he said was delusional. Tears welled in her eyes as she was going to miss him and a part of her knew it was stupid as he was just her brother in law but he had always been good to her. He had stepped in for her when Jack had passed away and been a good friend to her even if she found him annoying most of the time. It just made her blatantly aware that she would never be able to talk with him nor be able to give him a proper burial. The feelings of helplessness and despair filled her as she couldn't do anything to right the situation.

She was just at a real loss as to what to do with herself but then she was never good with grieving, it was why she tended to stuff them away inside her and ignore them by sleeping through it or working until the emotions faded away.

"Ok, here we go. I got the chef to keep some porridge with stewed pears from breakfast for you" Tex said breaking her from her reverie as he placed a bowl of porridge in front of her with a spoon, mug of water and a napkin. "And Maple syrup" he added as he placed the bottle on the table near her hand.

"Thanks" Kate said in a subdued tone. She blinked away the tears as she picked up the bottle with a shaky hand and poured a liberal amount on her porridge. She placed the bottle on the table and Tex took it away before he came back and sat next to her with his own lunch of a couple sandwiches and a coffee. She shook out the napkin and draped it over her lap.

"Want me to spoon feed you?" Tex teased her, hoping to get a smile out of her. But it didn't work, she knew she needed a few days to find her sense of humour again because right now she was somewhere between shock and damage control mode.

"I can manage" Kate assured him. She could feel the pity of those watching her and wished they would just go on with their meal as her and Tex's presence had seemed to hush the conversations in the room. She propped her elbows on the table and leaned forward, hunching over her food keeping her face down as she slowly stirred her porridge. She didn't want anyone to talk to her so she just focussed on her porridge pretending to be enthralled but the swirl of maple syrup pattern. She felt a hand on her back and looked to Tex who gave her a empathetic smile as he rubbed her back in a soothing manner for a couple of seconds. She gave him a sad smile before she returned to her porridge and ate a spoonful of porridge in the hopes it would push the painful lump in her throat away.

The conversation in the room that has been stilted when they came in started up again. Kate relaxed as Tex fell into a conversation with Lt Foster and Lt Green. Kate had no idea what is was about but was glad no one was paying her attention. She slowly un-hunched her back and continued to eat her porridge in peace.

She was halfway through her bowl when the wardroom door opened and Tom stepped in. He quickly motioned for the officers lunching to stay as they were before he went to refill his coffee. A few seconds later, she felt a warm hand on her upper arm. She looked to Tom who had leaned down to talk to her. Deep concern was etched into his features and it only made her away of how much pain she felt and how she should just hide herself away from the others so she didn't impinge one whatever morale was left.

"Lassiter, I would like to a meeting with you at 1500 hours in my stateroom. If you're up to it" Tom said in a hushed tone to her. Kate gave a tired nod as she knew it was only a matter of time before Tom wanted to talk about what Evan had said.

"I'll be there" Kate assured him.

* * *

Sometime later,

The three of them stood on the deck processing and assessing the information at hand. Dr Scott's vaccine development was not going as Tom had hoped and frankly it made Mike incredibly nervous as Tom ordered the ship to be stopped only a day ago to conserve fuel until they knew which direction to go.

Home or back to Nicaragua, the latter would cause serious issues as Tom had given yet another inspiring speech of hope and confidence saying they were going home with a vaccine. Only now it looked to be quite the opposite. While Mike expected hiccups, he had taken Tom's word just like the rest of the crew that things were looking positive only now they weren't. Their new delay now would only fuel dissension in the crew as their faith wavered in Tom and by association himself and Jeter.

"Also, you two should be aware that there has been scuttlebutt about Lassiter and I fear its growing legs" Jeter said breaking the silence that had lapsed between them as they had been brainstorming their options. Rumours were always abound on the ship, it couldn't be avoided when information was kept on a need to know basis. People loved to speculate.

"Such as?" Mike asked from a mixture of curiosity and concern. He wondered if he was linked in the rumours.

"That there is some connection with us stopping the ship and her boss's long winded communications in another language that only she can translate. There were some convoluted theories being floated around in the mess. My favourite was that a large corporation such as Lassiter Industries produced to the virus to create a market for the cure but thankfully that one was debunked rather quickly" Jeter said with a wry smile as Tom and Mike shared incredulous looks.

"It probably doesn't help that most of the medical equipment brought on board had been stamped with a well known subsidiary company owned by Lassiter Industries on the side. We should probably make Dr Scott and Lassiter aware of what's going on and that the longer we stall the wilder the theories will get. I don't need them saying the wrong thing and added fuel to the fire" Tom said,

"Though it could work in our favour as a diversion." Jeter said, Mike silently agreed because right now the truth would have the crew in a riot but then they were just delaying the inevitable. Tom winced not impressed with the tactic, but then he wanted to be open and honest with the crew something Jeter and Mike did not see eye to eye with him. But then Tom was going to do what he wanted at the end of the day and they would have to follow and support him.

"I'm not a fan of breeding a hostility against Dr Scott or Lassiter just because we can't find a way to soften the bad news to the crew about the reality of the situation. We need a new direction because right now I feel like we're sitting on a ticking time bomb" Tom said.

"As I see it, we only have two options and neither of them has a positive outcome" Jeter said.

"We told the crew about Nicaragua and it didn't help morale" Mike said.

"Keeping them in the dark and dragging our feet wasn't helping either" Tom argued, he looked at his watch and gave a sigh. "We're not getting anywhere and I have a meeting with Lassiter about the transcripts" Tom said.

"Do you want either of there?" Mike asked, he truly meant himself more than Jeter but was not going to say it outright.

"No, I'm good" Tom said.

"Alright, so for now we're sitting still and waiting for a progress report from Dr Scott" Mike said to clarify what they were doing. He was a little taken back that Tom wasn't asking him to meeting with Kate.

"Yes by the way have you seen Lassiter lately?" Tom asked Mike.

"No" Mike lied, as he had visited her in the infirmary a night ago. She had been unconscious and looking incredibly peaceful, he had watched her for a while just letting himself reminisce instead of think about the present. It had helped, not that he'd share any of that with Tom that. It just led to questions he didn't have answers for and while he had seen Kate around the ship. She looked like a zombie even with all the sleep he had heard she was getting. Scuttlebutt was rife about what she had been listening to in Comms and how it was somehow linked to the Nathan James. He could only imagine what the crew would think once they had to sit still for longer than a couple of days.

* * *

Kate stood outside the Captain's stateroom looking at the shiny plaque on the door trying to muster the motivation to knock. After lunch, Kate had taken a walk on the deck with Tex giving him a chance to feed his nicotine addiction and to alleviate his concerns about her lack of 'Vitamin D' and 'fresh air'. They didn't really talk all that much, well that was lie. She hadn't talked but Tex made up the difference talking about inane topics from how he was going to go play poker with the fellas in the crew lounge to how he had read up on all the Kardashians and their crises. Kate didn't even know who they were but apparently they had been having some kind of body war. Either way she felt well educated before she left him to take a quick nap and then fix her hair quickly before she came to stand where she was now.

She gave a sigh as she really didn't want to talk about Lassiter Industries. It was never meant to be hers. It was Jack and Evan's business but now she had inherited it and all its dirty secrets. What she knew could help the Nathan James and its crew but she couldn't just withhold information because she knew no one would approve of how the information was sourced. Knowing she couldn't put it off any longer she knocked on the door.

"Come in" sounded through the door and Kate turned the door handle and opened the door. "Close the door behind you" Tom said as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, she was surprised Mike wasn't here as she figured both of them would want to talk with her but it was just her and Tom.

"Lassiter, take a seat" Tom said gesturing to the seat by the door he pulled his chair from the desk and wheeled it over.

"Thank you" Kate said as she took her seat. She noticed her tablet computer on the coffee table a long with her personnel file, she wondered what he was playing at by putting the items on display. He sat down opposite her with the coffee table between them. He looked at her for a moment as if gathering his thoughts.

"I know how difficult the past week has been for you and I'm sorry for your loss" Tom said, Kate nodded acknowledging his sentiment but said nothing as she took a seat in the chair by the door.

"I don't know if you have been made aware but there has been a setback with Dr Scott's research. I'd prematurely gotten people's hopes up when I set course for home" Tom told her.

"I didn't know realise we were going back to the states" Kate said a little confused as it was the first she was hearing of it.

"No one told you?" Tom asked her.

"Told me what?" Kate asked, Tom sat forward in his chair and propped his forearms on his legs. He briefly explained to her what had happened in Nicaragua; El Toro, the villagers and the infected people before he informed Kate of Dr Scott's setbacks in making a workable vaccine. Kate sat back in the couch as she wasn't sure what to think.

But if she were honest she wasn't surprised about the infected people however Tom, Mike and the others going back to the village and freeing them from a tyrant was surprising as it was not mission protocol. For some reason it left her feeling a little slighted as they were allowed to be reckless, involve themselves in situation that was not theirs to begin with and now could pat themselves on the back for a job well done. Yet she couldn't contact Evan when he was alive and here she was; about to get raked over the coals for Lassiter Industries' indiscretions. It hardly seemed fair.

"-now you know what the crew know except about Dr Scott's failure to produce a vaccine thus far. Something I'd prefer you keep to yourself" Tom said finishing up his quick debrief. Kate looked at him for a long moment as she really didn't know what to say. Actually she knew exactly what to say but knew it was inappropriate and hostile, so she held her tongue. She knew the anger she felt was an overreaction and thus took a breath to quell it.

"Thank you for the update. Shall we get to the transcripts?" Kate asked him, moving the conversation to even more dangerous territory but it couldn't be avoided.

"We will in a moment but I just wanted you to be aware of the situation as there has been some scuttlebutt that the reason we stopped is due to you and what Evan Lassiter said. I want to foster that rumour for the time being, I think if the crew knew the reality of the situation they would lose faith and it's something I can't afford" Tom said, Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You know that you're painting a target on my back right?" she asked him, she didn't think the crew took much notice of her before except for the 'weekend warrior' joke but if they started to believe she was the reason why they weren't any closer to going home? Well that was the kind of hostility Kate didn't want to experience.

"I am aware" Tom said in a tone that told her he knew exactly what he was asking of her and knew better than to ask as she would have told him to take a hike but in much more colourful language.

"You're not going to give me a choice, are you?" Kate bit out as she couldn't believe his gall.

"No, now I want to know about Lassiter Industries because what you've given me here feels like a heavily redacted file" Tom said, not pulling any punches. Kate expected it and was prepared to deal with Mike having a go at her but he had given her a wide berth for the last few days but the she had needed it as she couldn't find the words say to him what she wanted, let alone find the time to get him alone to say them. It was probably a small blessing.

"Upon Evan's death I became the owner of Lassiter Industries and it's subsidiary companies as such I have to protect the legacy of my late husband and brother in law. So yes, you're not getting everything because most of the message was personal and not everything in the messages Evan sent in regards to the company are relevant to the Nathan James or your mission-"

"Our Mission" Tom corrected her even though right now it felt more like Tom's mission than hers.

"Apologies, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm now legally bound to preserve and protect the company's assets-" Kate started but Tom cut her off.

"Assets? You're trying to preserve a bank account that doesn't exist any more? Do I have replay the newsfeeds for you?" Tom asked in disbelief.

"Lassiter Industries assets are more than a bunch of ones and zeros in a bank account. That I don't care about. I care about protecting the people who work for the company like myself and Tex. Now, Lassiter Industries has access to the satellite network-"

"One would ask how your company has access to satellite network that isn't yours to begin with" Tom drawled in a displeased manner and Kate felt the metaphorical coals come to life.

"Don't know and frankly don't care" Kate told him in a nonchalant manner which only made him scowl in displeasure. "Now Evan said he has uploaded a compressed data packet of all the highly valuable intelligence he could gather over the past few months and from before the outbreak to one of the US government keyhole satellites. The details of those satellites are in the transcripts" Kate said. She could tell by the closed expressions on his face that he didn't like what she was saying but she wasn't sure which part displeased him most.

"I know, I read that part" Tom said.

"So then I guess you got the part where we would need to break radio silence to access the information. So I'm wondering why we're here when we should be in CIC talking to a comms technician to lower the connection and download speed" Kate said trying to remain calm when right in that moment she wanted to drop her head into her hands and just groan in aggravation but it would only display her weakness.

"We will get there but I want to know what you left out" Tom told her

"It isn't relevant" Kate said shaking her head as she was not going to have Lassiter Industries scrutinised by Tom or anyone else. She refused to have them pick over Evan's last moments like carrion eaters to a carcass especially when there was nothing of worth for Tom and the Nathan James.

"And what makes you the authority on what is relevant and what isn't?" Tom asked his annoyance obvious as he gave her a hard look.

"As I mentioned it before-" Kate started in a calm tone but Tom cut her off.

"Protecting the people. I don't care about whatever you and Tex have done in the past or are attached to. What I care about is my-"

"Tell me, if I tell you everything what will protect me from being prosecuted for releasing confidential information later down the track?" Kate said to him.

"There is no active government so your argument is moot" Tom said taking another route.

"If that's true? Then who do you answer to?" Kate asked. They locked eyes and Kate lifted her chin slightly in defiance as they both knew she had a point. Much to her surprise Tom backed off first and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm not happy with you withholding information" Tom told her as he couldn't argue with her as he wasn't ready to get into that discussion with her as it would take them off point.

"Funny, I feel the same way too" Kate remarked in a dry manner, Tom narrowed his eyes at her not appreciating her tone. But Kate kept her gaze steady as she looked at him, showing weakness now would not go well for her as she needed to stay firm and in control.

"Unlike you, I don't have the luxury-" Tom started but Kate cut him off.

"Luxury?" Kate scoffed. "What Luxury? My life is predicated on how valuable you think I am to this mission, to you" Kate told him. Tom look affronted by her statement.

"So you're going to withhold information that could be vital-"

"I have been as transparent with you as much as I can where as one moment you're handing me an olive branch and the next treating me like I'm the fucking enemy whose trying to screw you over" Kate said cutting him off as she was insulted at how he was maligning her character.

"You lie to me by omission and come to me with this" Tom lifted the computer "And openly admit to withholding information that you will only deign to tell me when you think its relevant. Yet for that to work I'd have to have you dogging my every movement and sit in on every meeting it's an unrealistic expectation" Tom told her coldly. Kate's lips thinned into a fine line as her body began to shake with anger, she had been fair to him and this crew and now he was making her feel as if she were trying some kind of power play with him.

"That Data packet is yours free and clear as for the rest of the messages they are mine. Not yours, just because you allowed me to sit in your comms room and hear it live does not make you entitled to anything except what I give you" Kate told him in a tone as equally cold and demeaning as Tom's tone felt to her. His whole demeanour towards her turned dark as he stood from his chair and squared his shoulders, it was a move of dominance and Kate knew if she were some young naive kid she would have been scared but she wasn't naive nor was she so inexperienced that she would let Tom think he could make her submit to him.

"You would put us all at risk-" Tom started to say but Kate cut him off again, she could tell it infuriated him to be interrupted but she didn't care.

"You should be used to operating on a need to know basis. It's a part of being in the Military, something I shouldn't have to remind you of" Kate seethed as she rose from her chair and glared right back at him. "Also you should be aware that greater men than you have tried to intimidate me and failed. I will not be coerced or bullied into anything I don't want to do" She added.

"Really? History would say otherwise about you bending over backwards for a man or you wouldn't be here" Tom said in a low tone referring to the I.O.U. note and Evan. Kate narrowed her eyes at him as her hands clenched into fists by her side. She was so angry that he would make such a low blow and part of her wasn't entirely sure if he was referring to Evan or to something else entirely. Either way, she felt insulted.

"I'm done" Kate told him.

"I'm not" Tom shot back in as foul of a mood as she felt.

"You know what, that's your problem. Not mine, so when you're ready to talk seriously about the information Evan has given us; then give me call because I'm not going to stay here and have you insult me because you feel you're getting jipped" Kate told him scathingly as, she picked up her computer and went to the door and unlocked it. She pulled it open and left the stateroom running directly into Mike.

"You have got to be kidding me" Kate exasperated as she just stopped mere millimetres from colliding into Mike. Her senses kicked into overdrive as she took a deep breath, inhaling his clean male scent. It was not the time to become distracted, but all she wanted to do was sink into him. Something that would only happen in her dreams as the reality of her and Mike was a minefield.

"Good to see you too Lassiter" Mike said sarcastically. She deserved it, so she let it slide with him as he hadn't just insulted her like Tom.

"Mike, get in here" Tom practically shouted from inside the room. His tone said he was clearly angry. Something he and Kate shared, she quickly moved out of Mike's way and started down the hallway, holding her computer to her chest wishing she could just disappear.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Tom who had his back to him, turned around and smiled which only served to confuse Mike as he had heard Kate and Tom getting rather heated. "What can I do for you?" Tom asked Mike.

"I wanted to go over the roster- What did I miss?" Mike asked as Tom was in a rather dark mood. Kate hadn't looked to happy when she left either. Some reason he was glad he hadn't been in the room as it took a lot to piss Tom off. Mike wish he was the same but he was more quick to anger, something he had to work on as it was not good for a leader to not keep a cool head.

"Lassiter is not going to share anything with me about what Evan said or translate the whole message into English" Tom told him as he sat down into his desk chair looking mildly put out.

"You asked for the transcripts, you didn't ask for them to be translated into English" Mike said as he knew Kate hadn't fully translate the documents and if Tom had asked at the time then she probably would have done so but not now.

"I would think it would be obvious that I'd want it all in English" Tom said as if it was blatantly obvious but apparently it wasn't for Kate as she hadn't given them everything and given their current situation only complete transparency would acceptable. Her withholding information looked suspicious no matter how innocuous the information she was hiding might be. But Mike had a feeling if she was holding something back it was either incredibly personal or she was trying to protect herself.

"So you were explicit at the time when you said you wanted the entirety of transcripts in English?" Mike asked. He wore a wry smile as he knew he could argue that Tom should have been more precise in his orders to Kate because she was not Navy. So she didn't have to give them any of transcripts. It was the kind of sass he could imagine her saying to him if he asked her.

"No, I thought it would be implied since I don't speak or read Welsh and why are you defending her?" Tom asked narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Mike.

"To be contrary?" Mike offered as he was failing miserable at staying neutral in this disagreement.

"Don't do that" Tom said in an unamused tone.

"Is that an order?" Mike asked wryly as Tom made him feel like he were in some juvenile tug of war with Kate as him as the prize.

"A suggestion" Tom told him, still not looking happy.

* * *

"Hey, just the person I needed to talk to" Kate said as she came into their quarters to find Rachel pulling on her jacket. Kate had been walking the length of the ship trying to figure out what to do with the current situation she was in. Tom was pissed at her and running into Mike just reminded her that it was only a matter of time before he tracked her down and yelled at her too. In fact all the walking and thinking about it had given her a killer headache. She'd been half tempted to see Doc Rios but she wasn't that desperate yet and she needed to talk with Rachel first.

"Well, here I am for the moment. What's up?" Rachel asked, Kate stepped into the room and closed the door behind her as she didn't want anyone to overhear them.

"When Evan was talking to me, he made some inferences that there is something wrong with my blood" Kate told her, Rachel folded her arms at Kate and quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Could you be more specific?" Rachel asked.

"Welsh never really evolved like English so there aren't a lot of words that can be translated into Welsh from English. All I have are vague sentences. The thing is before I started working for Lassiter Industries, I had to undergo a full physical examination. I was put through the ringer and they injected me with a bunch of needles. I was never told what they were for or even asked. I'm so used to waiving my medical rights due to the Army. Nor did I care; I just assumed they were updating my vaccination shots. Now I'm thinking there is something more to it" Kate said.

"So you want me to test your blood?" Rachel asked looking rather sceptical about Kate's request. She didn't blame her. Kate felt loony for asking.

"Yes" Kate said.

"Why not go to Rios?" Rachel asked her.

"Because I didn't tell the Captain and I want it to stay on down low. Rios is a good egg but he's navy they tend to stick together" Kate said annoyed at always feeling like an outsider. She also wanted it just between herself and Rachel because she trusted the woman. She also knew if there was something to worry about then maybe Kate would share it with Tom but at least Rachel would keep it to herself.

"I highly doubt he would break patient confidentiality" Rachel told her.

"I know but I need to know. I doubt it's related to the virus but I don't think Evan would have mentioned it if it wasn't important. So please, could you just take a look?" Kate asked her.

"Alright but it could take a few weeks for the results to come in" Rachel told her.

"That's fine, I know the vaccine research is top priority" Kate said, frankly she was happy to wait for the results.

"I also can't draw your blood until the Captain stops hovering around my labs" Rachel added, Kate gave a wry smile.

"He's still hovering?" Kate asked teasingly, Rachel gave her a patient look.

"He seems to think making a vaccine is like making scones. Quick and easy when it is not" Rachel said dry tone though she sounded rather annoyed by the man something Kate understood completely.

"Yes, he informed me that the Vaccine trials aren't working. He was rather displeased and I certainly didn't put him in a better mood" Kate said as she pushed her palm of her hand across her forehead in the hopes of alleviating the ache.

"I have to dispose of the monkeys as Captain Chandler doesn't want the crew to know. I'm all for keeping my work private but I feel-"

"A tidal wave of hostility and distrust washing off everyone?" Kate asked somewhat acerbically as she leaned her back against the door.

"I wouldn't put it like that dramatically but yes" Rachel said making the concession to Kate's description.

"That's because there's a rumour that we're plotting to take over the world" Kate deadpanned.

"You can not be serious" Rachel said in disbelief as it was absurd notion.

"Something along those lines" Kate told her, Rachel narrowed her eyes at Kate assessing her for a moment who was rubbing her face for what had to be the 4th time since starting their conversation.

"Headache again?" Rachel asked.

"More like a migraine in the making. Captain and I had a bit of tiff, it started after that and right now I'm just waiting for Mike to show up and make my day" Kate grumbled as she rubbed her face yet again as if it would wipe the pain away.

"Mike" Rachel said not so surprised by the slip but picking it up none the less. Kate stopped mid rub of her face and cursed under her breath as she realised what she said. She looked to Rachel and made a face.

"There's no way we can pretend I didn't call the XO by his first name?" Kate asked grimacing from her faux pas and because it felt like her head was crack open any second now. She kind of wish it would so then she would be saved from making things worse as she couldn't talk her way out this mistake as her brain wasn't working.

"No, but then it didn't slip my attention when I accidently walked onto the bridge just as you two became… engrossed in one another" Rachel said putting it as politely as she could. Kate felt like a little bewildered by the information.

"Ah" Kate started but she wasn't sure she could explain that one away.

"I was trying to find the Captain that night to talk to him about my work, I didn't stay for the show" Rachel explained pressing her lips together to squash a smile. It was the smile that made Kate nervous as she didn't know if Rachel would be like Tex and tease her or just let dogs lie. Though Rachel had kept quiet about it for the last few days not saying anything which gave Kate some comfort.

"Oh there was no show, it was just one kiss and then I ran away while his back was turned. It's complicated" Kate said flustered as her cheeks reddened from embarrassment as she felt incredibly uncomfortable.

"He's married" Rachel stated like it were a fact as there was no judgement in her demeanour. Kate nodded.

"Yeah, I know. We met a while back when he was separated from his wife and it was before I was married. It ended and he went back to his wife and I moved on, got married. We never crossed paths until 5 months ago" Kate explained, giving the basics because she felt she needed to defend Mike because she knew Rachel didn't like the man. But also to make excuses for herself as she tried very hard not to be a home wrecker though her past behaviour could be misconstrued to look so.

"So apparently it's very complicated from what I heard and saw" Rachel mused getting her chance to tease Kate back for her jokes about a love triangle between her, Tex and The Captain.

"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure it out. Though I can only imagine what you think of me" Kate said wincing, Rachel gave her an empathetic smile.

"People who live in glass houses should not throw stones" Rachel told her, Kate was rather surprised as the idiom was rather telling of Rachel's character. Rachel then went to her locker and pulled out a small bag. "Now, I'll draw your blood for testing tomorrow and as for tonight I have something you can take for your headache" she said as she rummaged through the contents for a moment.

"Oh you don't-" Kate started but stopped as Rachel pulled out a small medicine container containing several white round pills.

"Here, take two. It's a muscle relaxant. So it will help you sleep and abate the headache." Rachel told as she handed Kate the pills.

"Thanks" Kate said moving away from the door as Rachel looked like she needed to get out.

"You're welcome, now go have some food, come back and take the tablets. Get some sleep" Rachel ordered.

* * *

10 minutes later,

"So, I heard your husband stopped calling right a long near when the ship was stopped" Grodin said with an interested look as he sat opposite Kate at the table in the ward room. Kate had a cut up apple and half a sandwich on the plate in front of her. Her dinner as the kitchen staff kept the food locked up except for what was sitting out on the bench to the side of the room. It would at least 2 more hours before dinner served and Kate was not in the mood to wait when she could be blissfully unconscious. She just wished she could eat alone but it was a bad day so of course Grodin would find her and be annoying her.

"It was my brother in law and he died" Kate said hoping it would shut Grodin up and have him awkwardly run away for being an insensitive jerk. She absently picked up an apple slice and bit into not looking at him. She needed to finish the food on her plate. It was the bargain she made with herself. She would eat and then go back to her quarters and down the muscle relaxants and hopefully sleep blissfully for a few hours and wake up refreshed and headache free.

Silence blissfully fell between them and Kate slouched down in her chair relaxing as best she could as her head throbbed painfully. But the silence sadly didn't last as Grodin opened his dumbass mouth again.

"So, I guess now we can broach the topic of flight hours? Now you're no longer hiding away" Grodin said casually, Kate knew he was trying to funny but right now she wanted to punch him in the face. It was probably lucky that her head was pounding and there was a table blocking her path to him. Luckily for him she just didn't have enough motivation to traverse the space and hit him. Yet.

But then just as she predicted earlier with Rachel, Mike came into the wardroom with a mug in hand. she could only imagine how much worse her current situation could become but she could deflect Grodin's attention for a moment.

"Well, why don't you ask the Commander about it?" Kate suggested almost gleefully to Grodin before she ate another slice of her apple.

"What's this?" Mike asked wondering what he was getting roped in. He only gave himself a 10 minute break from the bridge so he could get some more coffee and not pace the bridge wondering what the hell Dr Scott and the vaccine trials. He hadn't expected anyone to be in as it was too early for dinner. The staff weren't in the kitchen cooking yet.

"I need more flight hours Sir" Grodin stated, Mike had turned his back to the room pouring himself a cup a coffee to cover the wry smile he had on his face. The kid must have forgotten that he was his commanding officer and thus he had to ask for more flight hours not state them in some half ass demand. Not too mention he had forgotten to stand when Mike entered the room.

After Mike placed the coffee pot back into its holder and turned around to face Grodin, the young man had such a hopeful look on his face. He looked to Kate who was sitting in the chair in front of him, she was slouched in the chair but looking to him to see what he was going to say. Mike assessed her for a moment seeing the dull exhausted look in her eyes. She hadn't looked so bright when he walked in and he was getting tired of seeing her looking so beaten down.

"Well when you can convert the Helo into using sea water as a fuel source then you'll get more hours" Mike told Grodin, the young man wore a glower look as he got the gist that Mike was saying 'no'.

"Ok, I get it. Well if you'll excuse me Sir. Ma'am" Grodin said with what sounded like respect in his tone as he rose from his chair.

"Of course" Mike said as he pulled out the seat next to Kate and sat down. He hadn't planned on sitting down but there he was parking himself next to Kate. It also had the added bonus of making Grodin leave. He looked to Kate noting how she sagged in the chair with a sigh of relief, she looked like she was suffering as she was incredibly pale with dark circles under her eyes. He just wasn't sure if it was the concussion or grief or maybe a mixture of the two.

"Thank you" Kate said to him, as she was relieved that Mike made Grodin leave. She could have kissed him in that moment but refrained due to logistically reasons as she wasn't ready to move and frankly she doubted that her kissing him would be well received.

"You're welcome" he said, they lapsed into awkward silence and he took a sip of his coffee trying to figure out what to say as the wardroom was not the place to talk about their kiss or finish the conversation they started a few days ago. In his assessment she was in no condition to do anything but sleep and frankly he was tired of her looking so miserable. Tired of all the guilt and feeling like the bad guy even though Kate never made him feel like one. Christina sure as hell did though.

As he looked at her, he wished was that he wasn't married and in a position to do what he really wanted and that was pull her into his arms and hold her, then possibly have it dissolve into round of hot sex. Just because it would be good to feel something better than the never ending cycle of being stressed, in grief and angry. To just forget how messed up everything was for just an hour or two.

"Kate" he said, Kate lolled her head to the side to look at him and she was too tired to sit like a normal person. She eyed him warily.

"Yeah?" She asked, her tone was casual but really she was trying to muster the strength to sit through what would another ego crushing talk of how their kiss was some aberration and meant nothing. That he would continue to a hostile asshole until she was off the ship and out of his life. Just what she didn't need to hear right now. What she needed was a break.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Mike said with a sincerity that nearly broke Kate into tears. "I know we're a mess but I just want you to know I'm here for you" He said as he rested a hand on her forearm that laid on the arm rest of the chair and gave her a gentle squeeze. He felt her arm tense under his hand for slightly at first before her muscles relaxed. He kept his hand there more for himself than her as he just wanted to stop being the bad guy.

"I thought you couldn't stand the sight of me" Kate said in a low voice. The exhaustion and sullenness in her voice struck a chord with him.

"Never said that though I can't stand the sight of you looking so beaten down" he said correcting her. "I know I've been a real asshole to you when you first got here. But I was trying to make things easier, to keep my distance" he said making concessions to her because right now he just wanted to actually do have a light conversation and make her smile.

"How did that work out for you?" Kate asked him, a slight smile played on the corner of her lips like she wasn't sure if she was annoyed at his honesty or amused.

"Not so great" he admitted wryly.

"Then what would you like to talk about?" she asked him looking down at his hand on her arm. The small gesture comforted her more than it should and thoroughly confused as she was sure he should have removed his hand a moment ago but didn't want to tell him that as she wanted to see where he was going with it.

"Nothing, I just want to sit with you for a spell" he said, something about the comment gave her relief as it meant he like her wanted a small reprieve from the current situation and if he wanted to pretend with her that they were friends then she was all for it even if it made her nervous as hell. They lapsed into silence.

"You know I should be the one comforting you, you've lost more than me" Kate said after a few minutes. She placed her hand over his as she knew Even's death was not as significant as Mike losing his son. Yet Mike seemed to be dealing with it quite well at least outwardly.

"It's not a competition" he told her, though if it were; she would be the one who'd win hands down as she had no family and any friends that she had in the Army were most likely dead. Mike on the other hand knew most of his family were alive or so he still hoped his daughters and mother were still alive. Christina was on one hand he'd never wish her dead but part of him wanted her to not be his wife or for them to have a solid and happy relationship. Now that would have been preferable as it would be less of mess and then he wouldn't be sitting here wishing for things he couldn't have or feel guilt for wanting them with a woman that wasn't his wife.

He pushed the thoughts away and focussed solely on the now. Right now, Kate was here. He moved his hand down to hers and intertwined their fingers under the table. It was amazing how something so innocent and juvenile was so comforting, maybe was the fact that they weren't arguing and slipping into an old memory of similar tokens of affection. He also missed the intimacy of just the two of them being together. He'd missed a lot of things about her.

"I know but you just seem to be doing far better at coping than I am" Kate said, tears well in her eyes as she looked away for a moment trying to calm the roll of emotions within her. She didn't want to turn into a blubbering mess.

"I'm just better at hiding it. It also helps I have a round the clock job to keep me occupied" he told her as he looked down at their hands. "Anyway, it'll be easier when get some more rest" he told her, Kate gave a sigh and nodded.

"I tried earlier, it didn't work out so great. I have this killer migraine at the moment" Kate said in a pained voice as she used the thumb of her free hand to push into the pressure point in her eyebrow. She winced slightly as the pain didn't lessen.

"Maybe you should see Rios" he told her.

"No point, he can't give me any heavy duty meds and I'd hate for him to be drawn into the conspiracy theory about me and Lassiter Industries trying to take over the world" Kate said sarcastically.

"The rumours" Mike stated.

"Yeah, I hate it" Kate groaned pitfully.

"I have herbal sleeping aids. Won't help the headache but it will help you sleep" he offered, Kate lifted her head up from the back of the chair and looked at him weirdly for a moment as if he had just spoken another language.

"I'm sorry, did you say you have herbal sleeping aids? Are you feeling well?" Kate asked him.

"Yes-" he started but Kate cut him off.

"You sure? because I heard you were going vegetarian. Maybe you caught the virus" Kate said mockingly. There was the smile he had been waiting for just as he gave her unimpressed look.

"Maybe I ate monkey ball soup and it disturbed me somewhat" he deadpanned.

"Mmm never eaten monkey balls before" Kate said to him, deciding not to touch the subject about his mother.

"Well it was meatballs not the other balls" Mike said or at least he hoped so "It's nothing special. So do you want the sleeping aids or not?" he asked her as he didn't want to talk about his monkey soup ordeal. Hell, he'd rather talk about his mother than about Nicaragua knowing full well it would leave him exposed to him to be teased unmercifully.

"No, what I want is to sleep in your arms" Kate blurted out; she hadn't meant to say it but now she had she felt half relieved and mortified even though it was incredibly true. Right now she was feeling ridiculously sorry for herself and just wanted to curl up against him and have her back rubbed until she went to sleep. She was craving physical comfort that sleeping aids and sedatives wouldn't give her.

"Kate-" he started but she cut him off.

"I know, we're a mess and there is so much to talk about and work out but wouldn't it be nice if we could just ignore that for 8 uninterrupted hours of blissful sleep?" Kate asked him, he smiled at her and Kate was practically floored by it as she had expected him to give her a patient yet annoyed look. But no he looked amused.

"I'm on duty" he told her as he didn't want to say 'no' to her. In fact it would be heaven and he'd rather leave the option open to toy with than shut it down completely and darken their moods. They both knew the reality so he bargained that there was nothing wrong with an innocuous fantasy or so he told himself.

"What?" Kate asked a little confused and wondering if she was hallucinating because she was sure he just smiled at her and not said 'no' or told her to take a hike. It was not like the Mike she had come to know on the Nathan James.

"I'm duty at the moment which means I have to get back to bridge" he said releasing her hand and rising from his chair. He immediately missed the contact but he was overdue to get back to the bridge.

"That's not a 'no'." Kate said feeling like she was standing on rocky ground. Wondering if maybe he was testing her mental capabilities. She watched as he picked up his coffee

"Go back to your quarters and set a wet flannel and place it over your eyes. It'll help" He advised her, purposefully not answering her back before he stepped out of the wardroom leaving her looking completely confused and flustered for some reason it made him smile.


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: Thank yous for the reviews! I love them and also to all the new followers and favourites :-D_

* * *

**Chapter 19**

* * *

Kate was pretty sure that she had fallen into some weird twilight zone as Mike had smiled at her and acted much like the man she once knew. It made her uneasy at first but then once she stopped analysing and waiting for the other shoe to drop it became rather comforting.

Something she so desperately needed. It wasn't like she couldn't go to Tex, he was good at giving hugs but what stopped her was that she hadn't wanted the comedy hour that came with it. Tex wore his humour like armour and never did they venture into deep and personal issues unless there was an abundance of booze consumed first. Only then did Tex open up but only because he believed Kate was too drunk to remember anything. It wasn't healthy but each to their own when it came to coping mechanisms. She usually did a lot of sleeping and cleaning just to keep her hands busy and mind empty.

She gave a sigh of exhaustion as her head still panged with pain. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, before she got herself a glass of water and downed the muscle relaxants. Kate knew it was the only way she was going to get a peaceful sleep otherwise she could guarantee she would spend the rest of night going over what she had said.

"I want to sleep in your arms. Great move; Kate, real smooth" Kate said out loud criticising herself for saying something so cringe worthy yet so thoroughly true. She stripped out of clothes and packed them away before she changed into the oversized t-shirt and ¾ leggings.

She turned off the light and climbed the bed frame and rolled into her bed pulling the blankets and sheet over her getting comfortable.

She turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling waiting for the tablets to kick in. She couldn't believe the weird turn of events in the Wardroom. And now in the dark thinking back on it, she wondered if maybe Mike was playing with her.

Part of her didn't want to believe Mike would do so because she wanted to think it was beneath him. That and his warmth had given her a perverse sense of hope that maybe there was some chance for them. The hope lifted her spirits even if there was no possible way he'd even consider giving up Christina and she still had her pride not to steal another woman's husband. Even if what she wanted to get back together with him. She and Mike had been good together or at least she remembered it was until they parted ways.

Now here in a twist of Evan attempts to get her to move on from Jack's death and making sure she survived the virus. She ended up on a ship with Mike, the first guy she had ever loved. It was definitely a demented turn of events. She idly twisted her wedding ring on her finger, she had continued to wear it after Jack's death because it was a symbol of once belonging to someone, the promise of a life and love of a good man. All that never-ending palaver she grew up wanting but she got jipped.

Jack was dead, and while yes she still loved him on some level, she also knew it what she and Jack had was very different to what she had with Mike. Neither man outshone the other but with Mike their relationship had never really ended. It just stopped, or at least that's how it felt to Kate. She had spent months expecting him to come back or to call her even though he never did. She also knew communication worked both ways and she never contacted him. She also had had too much pride to beg him to leave his wife or even to broach the subject only because she always felt it would have been the ultimate ending and she never wanted him to tell her that he didn't want her. At least not out loud and blatantly to her face.

Kate continued to twist her wedding ring wondering what it said about her that she wore the wedding ring of one man while pining after another. _Pining, gee let's just slip into a bad episode of Bold and Beautiful…_ Kate silently scoffed at herself. It still felt wrong to wear the ring when it no longer held the promises it once did. Nor did it feel right when she was thinking about Mike more than her husband. Even now she no longer felt the sadness of his absence as she once did, all she felt was a cold hollowness inside which only made her feel worse because she knew she should feel something more. Hell, Evan was dead because she had become aware that she was more upset for herself than she was for his death because she knew in his passing there was no one in the world waiting for her, no one out there hoping to see her safe return. Once this ship docked and crew disbanded; she would be on her own.

Tears filled her eyes as she took a shaky breath hating the self pity of her own thoughts. She didn't want to cry as it would only make her headache worse and dehydrate her. She rolled onto side and drew up her knees and closed her eyes, mentally stuffing her feelings away. She took a couple of slow relaxing breaths and pretended she was lying in the bed of her favourite resort the Ainu Nalu in Lahaina Maui.

In her mind, she pictured the studio condo with the white walls and high ceilings with the dark brown woven bamboo fan above the bed slowly turning moving the air gently around the room. The feel of the soft white sheets against her skin, the comfortable temperature of the room as it was warm enough for a blanket but just cool enough that the sheets were enough. Kate felt herself slowly drift off to sleep as she slipped into the old memories.

* * *

Mike sat on the edge of his seat waiting for the phone to ring. The medical team had been dispatched to the crew lounge which apparently included Tom and Dr Scott, now Rios was in with them and the man had waltzed through the ship in CBR gear. Mike knew scuttlebutt would be rife. He rose from his chair and looked to the crew on deck, they all looked nervous and he didn't blame them for feeling so. He too was feeling a little uneasy about the situation himself. The phone on the wall beside his chair rang just as he predicted. Mike picked it and brought the receiver to his ear.

"This is the XO" he said with a serious expression. He knew he was being scrutinised by the crew on the bridge. He was sure if he looked even remotely worried they'd all panic but like true professionals they would keep it contained and not run around like lunatics. At least that was what he expected of them and they had yet to disappoint him.

"_We're going to have to take precautions. Assume the worst until we know more. Circle William, set boundaries, full CBR gear. Until Doc Rios gives us some answers, I don't want to take any chances. I can't leave the crew lounge._ _You're going to have to make call" _Tom told him.

Mike heard the click as Tom hung up the phone on his end. A chill ran down his spine as hung the receiver back to its place and quickly moved to the back of the bridge and opened the small box on the wall pulling the radio receiver out and clicking it. A whistle sounded announcing to the crew the ship's internal P.A. system was activated and to pay attention.

"Attention Nathan James this is the XO. All personnel stand fast. Do not break boundaries. Set Circle William throughout the ship" Mike told them, he took a breath before he continued to set out orders for the ship.

* * *

Kate cracked an eye open as she was vaguely aware of the sound of alarms going off and Mike's voice droning over the P.A. system informing people to do something. The air conditioning that pumped cold air into the quarters stopped but Kate didn't really mind as the muscle relaxants made her way too relaxed to care. In fact she felt like she was in that tipsy stage of drinking where every particle of her being just sighed in pure relaxation. Something she hadn't felt in a long while which was probably why she didn't want to know nor did care enough to muster an iota of worry to what was going as it would ruin her buzz. She waited a moment wondering if someone would knock on her door but luckily nothing came of it. So she gave a happy sigh and rolled onto her stomach and dozed back to sleep.

* * *

"Close all hatches and secure all ventilation. DCA and Compartmental Damage personnel pass out CBR gear and filter canisters. This is the XO, I say again…" Mike repeated his orders as alarms were sounded and the crew started to follow his orders. Lieutenant Granderson moved to the storage compartment on the bridge and started passing out the CBR gear to the crew on the bridge.

Mike hung up the radio receiver and closed the box on the wall securing the latch on the side before he then picked up his shoulder radio and sent orders to the DCA group to make sure Tophet was given CBR gear as Mike assumed the man would be needed in the future.

Once he finished the call, he turned around to one of his worst nightmares. The bridge crew were all dressed up in their CBR gear, looking to him for direction, for confidence that the situation would just be a false alarm.

"We are taking precautionary measures but Dr Scott has assured me there is no virus outbreak. Until she has been proven correct remain calm and attend your duties" He told them in a firm tone that said he would broach the subject with them. He just hoped they swallowed his lies as he had no clue what Dr Scott thought.

"Aye Sir" Chorused through the room and the crew turned their attention back to their duties. Mike moved over to the remaining suit and pulled it on in a brusque manner knowing if the virus was rife on the ship the suits were probably a waste of time given how quickly Dr Scott said the virus could spread. But protocol dictated that they had to wear the suits. So it was what he did.

* * *

Hours later,

Mike took slow and deliberate steps as he walked around the bridge waiting for the Doc Rios to confirm their worst suspicions or hopefully allay their fears. Mike was opting for the latter as he thought of the 120 so crew members who did not have CBR suits. Kate being one of them, he could even ask about her status or show her any deference because it would give scuttlebutt some unnecessary fodder. Also because she was like the crew not in CBR gear were a little more dispensable than those suited up. Those people didn't need to be reminded that they weren't 'lucky' and any voiced concerns would seem rather tasteless. Neither would it help assuage his concern or guilt for those people or make it fair. In fact it made his gut churn and frankly he wanted to pace the bridge like a maniac but he knew it wouldn't help anyone if he did that.

The last thing they needed was to lose any more people. The only made him more painfully aware of how useless they were against this virus and how incapable he was of taking care and keeping safe of those most precious to him. They needed Doctor Scott to develop a vaccine and he needed to get off this ship and find his kids. He just hoped Christina's grief over Lucas didn't turn her completely bitter towards him as he could imagine her disappearing with their daughters just to punish him. She had made the threat before. He hated how she acted as though she were the only one in pain and somehow it was entirely his fault, it was hardly fair to him.

_Kate wouldn't do that…_ a small voice in his mind decided to annoyingly remind him but then Kate had always been pretty straightforward with him. If she couldn't find the words; her face was usually so expressive it was easy to read her or so he remembered. Though he had to admit since their 'reunion' she was a little harder to read but he wasn't sure if she were more emotionally numb or better at hiding her emotions. He had leaned towards the latter because he was used to Christina's unconscious yet duplicitous nature of saying one thing and meaning something else entirely. The comparisons again, he had to stop doing that.

The fact was he really needed to re-evaluate what he wanted with his life because right now he was living from one life threatening situation to the next without any forethought to the future. The elusive future of what he was going to do when he like the others were allowed to leave the ship and go home or what was left of it. He knew he would find his daughters, he would visit his son's grave. He would find his mother and any other family that had survived but he wondered for a moment after all that was done and he settled in one place what would that life be.

Did he really want to try and reconcile with Christina after all this? Their marriage seemed to be a never ending cycle of them making one another miserable while putting up a happy united front for the kids. He wondered if he had taken that desk job in Miami would he and Christina had found the solution to their problems or was it just another band aid.

He stopped mid stride as it hit him as he walked the length of the bridge that he wasn't sure that he up to going through the rigmarole of trying to patch up their marriage. If anything their marriage was like a leaky boat when he plugged one hole another seam in the hull popped. So the idea of going back to that, to Christina didn't exactly excite him. He also really couldn't imagine spending the better part of another decade trying to make Christina happy especially when he hadn't managed to do so in the past. Maybe he had to finally admit defeat, it wasn't the best feeling to give up and acknowledge he was a failure at something but then he reminded himself that he had been trying for a long time to make the marriage work with Christina. Also he when he thought of throwing in the towel it gave him an odd and unexpected sense of relief.

His station phone rang bringing him out of his thoughts and back to the present. He walked over to his chair and pulled out the phone receiver. "Bridge" he said.

"_Sir, you can stand down Circle William. Lt Green has Dengue Fever. It's not contagious_" Rios informed him, it was possibly the best news he could hope for in that moment.

"Thank you Rios" Mike replied, relief washed over him as he hung up the phone receiver. He turned to the crew and pulled off his mask, relishing the fact that he could turn the air con on and strip out of the CBR gear.

He moved to the back of the bridge to the box on the wall and opened it picking up the radio receiver. A low whistle sounded and Mike waited for it to finish before he spoke.

"Attention on deck, all hands. This is the XO, biological threat has been disproved, there is no biological threat. Secure from Circle William, restart ventilation, secure all gear. I say again. Secure from Circle William, restart all ventilation, secure for MOPP level 4 and re-stow all gear" he said over the P.A., he then hung up the receiver and looked around the bridge seeing and practically feeling the relief roll off the crew as he closed the box on the wall.

* * *

Early that following morning,

"Have you thought about telling the Captain about whatever you have left out in the transcripts?" Rachel asked as she unclipped a vial of blood from the syringe she was using to take blood from Kate and snapping in another vial.

They hadn't had breakfast yet but Rachel had wanted Kate to fast for her blood tests. Not that Kate minded as she was still in a rather relaxed and happy state from her long, deep and restful sleep. So the plan was to apparently drain a lot of blood from Kate then have breakfast afterwards. So there they sat at the desk outside the quarantine area with Kate's arm on the table with a syringe in her arm being drained one tiny test vial at a time.

"No, I'd rather not cook my goose quite yet" Kate told her as she looked around the Helo bay. She hadn't been in the room before today so it was kind of impressive to see the small makeshift lab. Rachel gave a faint smile at Kate's choice of idiom before she spoke.

"It can't be that bad" Rachel said to her. Kate gave her a 'are you kidding me?' look.

"Um we're sitting here drawing my blood because I'm sure my brother in law made some inferences to my blood being 'cursed' and turning me into a 'messenger of death' which I can only think was some inference that I could become a carrier for the virus. How? I have no idea" Kate told Rachel with a shrug, she just wanted to know what the hell was floating around in her blood. A question she shouldn't have to be asking herself 11 months after the fact. But then hindsight was 20-20.

"I guess we could consider ourselves lucky that you aren't a carrier yet. If your inferences are correct, then perhaps Lassiter Industries has some type of vaccine for another virus that has made your immune system dysfunctional in regards to this virus." Rachel said thoughtfully.

"Lucky me" Kate drawled sarcastically.

"If that is the case, we need to alert the Captain and the XO. They need to be made aware of the situation as it might make you ineligible for my vaccinate prototype, when I finally get it right or skew the results when I get to human trials." Rachel speculated.

"how?" Kate asked.

"I'd rather not say just yet and perhaps you should suggest they download that Data Packet. It might prove to be quite valuable for my research" Rachel said as she wrote on the sides of the vials.

"I'm still not thrilled with the idea of talking to the Captain about it." Kate told her. She clicked her fingers and looked like she got an idea and smiled at Rachel "Perhaps you could talk to him. He'll listen to you" Kate said.

"We are nearly done" Rachel said ignoring Kate's suggestion, as she snapped out the filled vial and then snapped in the last vial to the syringe.

"The Captain seems pretty solid in his faith in regards to your abilities" Kate said watching as the vial slowly filled with blood. She was starting to feel a little woozy from the lack of food and the blood being drawn.

"Not after last night" Rachel mumbled.

"Ah right, the massive freak-out that I missed out on, I'm so glad I slept through that" Kate said with a smile. Rachel had told her of what happened last night on the ship when Lt Green had collapsed in the crew lounge and Burk had convinced Tom that it was the starts of a serious outbreak that forced Mike to put the Ship in lock down. Also how it became apparent that Lieutenant Foster and Green had apparently been fraternising, not like Kate was surprised by that news.

"It was ridiculous how easily swayed they were to most illogical conclusion" Rachel said annoyed and it wasn't the first time she had said it either.

"Well no one really understands all this virus stuff like you do. I barely understand the ingredients list on the cereal box like what the hell is a thiamine?"Kate asked making a face as she gave a shrug.

"It's vitamin B1" Rachel told her.

"Well, why don't they just write Vitamin B instead of Thiamine?" Kate asked. Rachel gave her a bemused smile.

"I'm sure they have there reasons" Rachel mused before she grew serious "Though I do need to know. In your opinion, would you have called a lock down?" Rachel asked directing the conversation back to what happened last night. Rachel wanted to feel vindicated for actually keeping her head while the others around her had not.

"I figured if it was the virus then more people would have developed symptoms before Lieutenant Green collapsed. But look in the slightest hint of a biological threat founded or not; a Lock down is necessary even if in the long run entirely useless. It's a military thing, it has to be done" Kate said answering the question managing to agree with Rachel yet also agreeing with Tom's decision to put the ship into Lock down.

"Well, when you put it like that I shouldn't feel too offended" Rachel said as she still felt insulted by how Tom and the others had questioned her ability to contain the virus and the validity of her own research and experience. Rachel pulled the syringe from Kate's arm and applied a cotton ball to the entry mark.

"Put pressure there and hold it for a moment." she instructed, Kate did as Rachel asked applying pressure to stem the bleeding and to minimise the bruising.

"So a couple of weeks or more for results?" Kate asked for clarification on the blood tests.

"Yes, I'll be running it on the side and it will be a broad range of tests. If you are able to give more than a few cryptic sentences to go on-"

"If I could, I would. But you'll have to talk to the Captain as he wants in your pants more than mine" Kate offered in a teasing manner to Rachel. She didn't really understand most of what Evan said, she knew it wasn't good. She had just hoped to convince Tom to just download the data packet and ask questions later instead of going off the transcripts because to her it read slightly insane and rather frightening. At least the Data packet was tangible information.

"He's happily married" Rachel told her.

"Just because you've ordered doesn't mean you can't look at the menu" Kate told her.

"That is a horrible analogy" Rachel told her.

"But it holds and anyway, I can't talk to the man. He hates me and frankly if he knew the truth after what you told me about last night? Well he'd only freak out and put me into quarantine which would be useless as I've been on the ship for months and no one has even caught a cold off me" Kate told her in a matter of fact manner.

"Not to mention the slight complication with the XO that would put you both in the same room again" Rachel added reminding Kate of the kiss she and Mike shared on the bridge. Something Kate wished Rachel would forget just so then she couldn't bring it up reminding Kate of how she wanted more.

"Yeah, can we pretend that didn't happen?" Kate asked with a hopeful tone as she really didn't want it to become a topic for conversation. Ever. Her and Mike, it was between them.

"No" Rachel said with a smile as she placed all of the vials into a plastic snap lock back and storing it away in a cooler bag.

"Oh you're cruel" Kate said mockingly.

"Coming from the woman who proclaims I'm in a love triangle" Rachel replied in an equally mocking tone as she finished cleaning up.

"Once, I said it once" Kate told her, holding up one finger to emphasise the number of times.

"Come on, let's go get some breakfast" Rachel told her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

"I need you to talk to Lassiter about the gaping holes in the transcripts. I think she'll be more open to speak about it with you" Tom said, he knew it was abusing Mike's past relationship with Kate but he knew Kate would never open up to him. Not without Tom apologising and he was not in the wrong, at least in his opinion he was not in the wrong. Mike however had the power to get Kate to open up or so Tom hoped. He could tell Kate had a soft spot and Mike was it.

"With respect I'm not going to talk to Lassiter for you unless it's something other than the transcripts" Mike told him in a firm tone, Tom reared back in confusion as Mike was not one to argue orders so calmly and politely. It was rare for Mike to buck the system but when he did he got angry like when Tom decided to change mission statement on the Nathan James and keep them all on board to help keep Dr Scott protected while she worked on a vaccine.

"You spoke with Tophet. Can't you use your talents on her to get her to talk?" Tom argued.

Mike sat back in his chair as he didn't like where this conversation was going. The crew was edgy after last night and Mike had just come off the night watch. He only had a chance to have breakfast and quick shower before he and Tom sat down to talk about what their plans were. The tone on the ship had changed dramatically since last night's scare. Mike couldn't help but feel the wide gap between himself and the crew as if he and Tom were somehow no longer trusted, the suspicion and distrust was more noticeable. It different from the sense of separation he normally felt given when the mission had a 'need to know' component that the crew weren't read into. This morning was different and he didn't like it nor did he like the questions being raised but their options on what to do about it were limited and the situation in Mike's opinion was far more important than what Kate left out of the transcripts in that moment.

"I don't have personal history with Tophet" Mike said as he tried not to shift uncomfortably at what Tom was suggesting. For the remainder of his watch duty Mike had spent his time between focussing on his duties and thinking about his long term goals. He had come to some rather startling realisations and made some heady decisions about his life. There was also the fact that Mike wasn't going to fracture the tentative peace between himself and Kate. He cherished the memories of himself and Kate together and would not utilise them because Tom managed to tick Kate off. Those two had to sort it out between them without him playing mediator.

Tom didn't look happy with him as he leaned forward in his chair and looked at Mike with a serious expression.

"Mike, just between friends here; I know you two had a relationship while you were legally separated from Christina. I turned a blind eye to it because you were discreet about it and technically it's a grey area in USMJ. Also because you're my best friend and it's not my place to get into your life and mess with it. But what happened between you two back then?" Tom asked as he couldn't help but feel suspicious of Mike's refusal. He would have thought Mike would jump on the chance to interrogate Kate considering Mike had made a point of being rather passive aggressive towards Kate for the past few months. Tom let it slide because he always thought Kate had burned Mike.

"You're right it is none of your business" Mike said as he knew Tom never approved of Mike having a relationship with Kate. While he appreciated Tom looking the other way, Mike knew there was no explanation that Tom would understand.

It wasn't personally about Kate but about the fact that legal separation was like limbo. You weren't exactly single but you weren't exactly married either but it was easier to remain married than go through a messy divorce. Mike hadn't thought too deeply on the subject because with Kate; she was a mental and physical escape that turned into something more. Something he and Kate had pretended didn't exist but knew was there. It was still there even after the years apart.

"Give me a reason besides your personal history to why you don't want to touch this topic with her" Tom said in a tone that was more like an order than an encouragement from a friend.

"Because I'm not going to demoralise myself or Kate just because you're suspicious of what she left out of the transcripts" Mike told him, as he had a feeling Tom would give him carte blanche to get the information out of Kate. Tom gave him an incredulous look and sat back in his own chair looking at Mike.

"You still care about her" Tom said as he couldn't believe he hadn't realised it until now. Sure he knew there was some residual feelings of what he assumed was bitter resentment but he was wrong.

"Yes and before you ask there's nothing going on" Mike said firmly even though it was a half lie. He wanted something more to happen. There was no point in denying it to himself, hell he'd settle for a few hours to blow off some steam and to not feel like crap scrapped off someone's shoe. They had all been cooped up on this ship for too long considering before this assignment they had barely gotten back from 6 month deployment.

"But you want something to happen" Tom said though his tone was slightly accusatory in nature.

"I'm married, I know the rules and unlike Lt Green I can keep my pants zipped and not have my personal issues affect my duties" Mike told him, his tone dark as he didn't appreciate Tom insinuations that Mike would jeopardize the ship and many lives for one person.

"I didn't think it would but it leaves me in a bind" Tom said rubbing a hand down his face in exhaustion.

"You mean where you have to apologise to Lassiter" Mike said trying not to look amused. He didn't even know what Tom said to tick Kate off but it had to have been good and no way in hell was Mike going jump in Tom's proverbial grave.

"I'm not apologising to her" Tom snapped. He looked rather petulant in Mike's opinion was rather amusing.

"That's your business but it would probably help" Mike told him holding up his hands as he really didn't want to get into Tom's problem with Kate. He was not going to be the middle man between them.

"Can't I persuade you-" Tom started but Mike shook his head.

"No" Mike told him.

"The only reason I could think of you saying 'no' is because you want to keep the option of getting back together with her open" Tom said hitting the proverbial nail on the head. "But I know you wouldn't leave Christina" Tom told him, Mike wasn't going to dispel Tom of his notions because as Captain the man needed plausible deniability but Mike was going to leave Christina. He already had emotionally, it was just the legal sense that had his hands tied for the moment.

"I'm not even going to go there" Mike told him, as it was truly none of Tom's business even if it was true. Mike had decided he did want his options open and he didn't want Kate to misinterpret his intentions when he made them known.

"Go there with her or finish the discussion with me?" Tom asked him out of curiosity.

"Are we speaking as Captain and XO? Or as Friends?" Mike asked him, quirking an wasn't going to tell Tom anything about Kate.

"Friends because we both know what I'll say as Captain" Tom told him, yeah the Captain would say give Kate a wide berth and not get involved because while they had thrown out most of the rules, Tom was arbitrary about which rules he kept. Hell, Mike was sure Tom was arbitrary about what information would be kept between friends as well. It wasn't worth the risk finding out the hard way.

Mike was about to tell Tom for the second time in that hour that whatever was between Kate and himself was none of his business, that he was not going to tell him anything and to stop making a big deal of it but was cut off when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in" Tom said not breaking eye contact with Mike as if assessing his loyalty or at least that's what it felt like.

Jeter came into the room and wore a grim expression. "I apologise Gentlemen" he said as he closed the door behind him. "But we got a problem. A couple of the enlisted men came to me. They were speaking for a larger group. 16 to be exact. They want off the ship" Jeter told them.

Tom and Mike exchanged looks as this was one of those moments they had been dreading since hell broke loose.

"Who are they?" Mike asked Jeter, the man opened up his folder and pulled out a piece of paper. He was feeling a mixture of anger and jealousy rise within him. He wanted off the ship as much as the next person, but he would never do so until their mission was finished even if it ate at him. What made him angry though was the betrayal of the people on the list. They were all in it together, personal issues aside and to want to jump ship after one scare just spoke poorly of his and Tom's leadership.

"You should know they were very respectful" Jeter said as he handed Mike the page. Mike couldn't care less if the crew members were respectful. He looked down the list and noted the names. Majority were non essential crew but there were a few people on the list they needed. It was going to cause problems for sure if they left and if the Captain allowed them to leave then what would they do when vital personnel wanted off the ship?

Mike gave a slight huff and then looked to Tom who was trying to read his expression. He gave Tom the piece of paper. The man took it and looked down this list. He dragged his hand across his mouth as he read the names.

"Their enlistments are up all 16. Since we did not reup them, technically they are not in the Navy any more" Jeter said, he moved his hands behind his back so he was standing in a relaxed military posture "I didn't know what to tell them" Jeter said to the men.

"Are you suggesting we let them go?" Mike asked Jeter, cutting straight to the issue at hand.

"How do you think they'll feel if we try to stop-loss them. It'll mean holding them against their will. I mean we're not El Toro" Jeter said 'El Toro' with clear disgust, something they all shared but here they were in a similar situation.

"And what kind of message will that send to the rest of the crew? they can just leave when things get uncomfortable?" Mike asked in annoyed tone but he felt was a lightly petulant manner to his ears though it couldn't be helped. The way Tom was looking, he could only think the man would let the 16 people go and it seemed unfair but then when was anything about their lives lately been fair?

"Well we all knew this moment might come didn't we?" Jeter asked, his tone reminded Mike of his mother when he was warned not to do something but invariably did it anyway.

She would use the same tone as if to say 'you knew what would happen, so what's your contingency plan now?', being a mediator she was all about meeting halfway and negotiating everything. It made being a kid fun, a teenager not so great as every small infraction took hours because she like to talk out their options. It would have been quicker if she just punished him and be done with it but if she had, then he wouldn't have learned to utilise the skills he unintentionally learnt from her to apply to his work as cop.

Tom looked between the two men, Mike could practically hear the cogs turning in his head. By the look on his face Mike had a feeling he was not going to like what Tom was planning to do. Though it wasn't like Tom's plans since they ended up here had made him happy, except the part where they lived to fight another day. That was the only upside.

"Sir?" Jeter prompted Tom.

"Give me a couple of hours to think about this" Tom told them.

"Your orders until then?" Mike asked.

"As you are" Tom told them, he placed the piece of paper on the table and looked to Jeter and Mike. "You're dismissed until further notice" he told them, he watched as Mike rose from his chair and left the room with Jeter.

Once the door was closed Tom dropped his head into his hands and gave a sigh of frustration. He really wished they could have a small reprieve before the next drama but it wasn't going to happen and right now he needed to find a way to convince the 16 on the list to stay and for the rest of the crew not to follow their lead. He also needed to read up on Rachel again and Kate, perhaps there would be something in their personnel files that could help him. Even if Kate's personnel file was spotty at best and lacking a photo. It made him wondered what he could trust in any of the personnel files he had of both women could be trusted but it was all he had.

So he rose from his chair and moved to the filing cabinet and pulled out the bottom draw sifting through the files until he found the right names. Once he found them, he pulled both files out and tossed them onto his desk.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Tex asked Kate who was standing on a ladder fiddling with the Helo engines or at least it looked like fiddling to Tex.

"I'm just checking everything out" Kate told him as she closed the hatch to the engine and came down the ladder. "What's up?" Kate asked him, as she strolled over to the work bench and picked up a rag and wiped the excess grease from her hands and forearms. She'd need to wash the grease off later but at least she wouldn't have any issues of transfer onto her normal clothes. The luck of being lent a navy blue jumpsuit by one of the flight crew for when she wanted to muck around with the Helo.

"I was wondering how you're doing" Tex said as he pulled out a stool and sat down at the work bench watching her as she scrubbed her hands with the rag. She'd wash them properly later and then debate whether to leave her wedding ring off or not. She didn't wear it while flying or working on the engine because it would get dirty or refract the light which was a distraction she didn't want even if it was a minor one.

"With what?" Kate asked as she moved from her hands to scrub a stubborn spot of black oil on her arm with the rag. It was a useless task but it gave her a reason to not look him in the eyes.

"Evan" Tex stated.

"There isn't much to say. He's dead" Kate told him with a casual tone as she really didn't want to talk about Evan or anything that would bring down her rather neutral mood. Neutral was better than what she had been feeling the last few days. Today, she had been just stuck to distracting herself and it had worked until now. But then she wondered why Tex wanted to talk about Evan when he wouldn't even talk about the friends he lost at Gitmo or his daughter.

"Kate- Tex started but Kate cut him off as she tossed the rag onto the bench and folded her arms looking at him.

"Tex, when was the last time you had a medical work up for your contract?" she asked him, changing the topic.

"Over a year ago. I was about due before all hell broke loose" Tex said, he frowned at the line of questioning.

"Fair enough" Kate said storing the information away. She wondered if he was like her, that he could become a asymptomatic carrier. She really needed to nut up and talk to Tom about getting the Data Packet. She was pretty sure she couldn't wait weeks for the test results as she was already on the edge of her seat waiting and it had only been a few hours ago that Rachel had taken her blood.

"Why?" Tex asked her.

"Just curious" Kate asked as she didn't want to get into the details with him. He didn't need to weighed down with her knowledge yet.

"No you're not" Tex said narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her.

"Well-" Kate started but the P.A. activated.

"_Attention Nathan James, all hands report to the Flight Deck immediately. All hands report to the Flight deck" _a female voice announced over the speakers.

"Kate" Tex prompted, Kate gave him a smile as interior door to the Helo bay opened and people started walking through the bay to the flight deck.

"We'll talk later" Kate lied as she had no intention of talking about it later. She moved to the open Hangar door and looked out to the flight deck. The crew was slowly getting into formation. Officers to the right side of the deck facing the left side of the ship whilst the enlisted and NCO's stood in formation facing the forward looking to the direction of the bow.

Mike, Jeter and Tom all stood at the front looking imposing as they always did as they silently commanded the crew's attention. In a matter of ten minutes everyone was assembled. Tex had even prodded Kate outside of the Helo bay and onto the flight deck, they moved to back of officers formation. Tex stood tall and proud something that was old habit for someone from the Military while Kate leaned against the railing, she did so purposefully as she didn't want to be in Mike or the Captain's eye line. After a few moments of silence, Tom spoke up. His voice booming loud enough so those at the back could hear him.

"I've made some mistakes these past few days. In the ways I've handled information, kept you in the dark about our mission. Cause I'm trying to protect you from the truth which is painful. That was a poor decision on my part. I am you captain, I am your leader and you have every right to be disappointed in me but that does not mean that you should give up hope. Because this mission isn't about me and it's not about you." Tom nodded towards Mike and he picked up his shoulder radio "It's about them" Tom said gesturing upwards.

After a couple seconds, the loud speakers started to pump out radio calls.

_"My name's Henry, I'm up at Portland Maine, I'm not sick but we're running out of food. If anyone knows of any good hunting grounds in the area. Sure could use a tip" _A man said, the channel changed and another message was played. The messages kept playing through the ship's speakers of people's disparity, their hope for a cure, people dying. Kate looked down at the ground as she didn't want to hear it. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was that there was nothing she could do. So her pragmatic side told her there was no point in swimming in the guilt. The messages stopped and Tom spoke again.

"That is out problem" Tom told them, Kate looked up and saw him nod to Jeter who moved to Helo bay 1 to get it open "In there is the solution" Tom said, the door slowly opened shining light into the bay. Showing the quarantine tent that housed Dr Scott's makeshift lab.

"Come with me" Tom said gesturing to them all. Tex nudged her shoulder and Kate pushed off the railing to follow him as the crew slowly moved into the Helo bay one. It was funny how it looked so much smaller when the room was brightly lit with natural lighting and over a couple hundred people standing around it.

Kate followed Tex, hugging the walls until they found a prime view over the heads of the crew. It took a little ingenuity but Kate standing on a small storage box, holding onto an exposed pillar for support looked down at Rachel. The woman was dressed up in her CBR gear standing inside the makeshift lab. Kate looked to Tex and shook her head as the man wore a goofy smile as he stared at Rachel.

Kate barely tuned in as Tom told the crew Rachel's story. Kate had already heard it before. Everyone's focus was between the Captain and Rachel but Kate didn't listen as she accidentally locked eyes with Mike. The man was staring straight at her and it was not the kind of look one gave their ex who they were supposed to 'hate'. He looked at her with slight concern mixed with keen interest. Her heart rate quickened and her cheeks warmed as she felt slightly flustered as to why he was acting so out of character. Or maybe she was reading too much into it but before she could figure it out; Mike moved his eyes onwards and started looking around the other faces in the room.

Mike looked around room as Dr Scott spoke, he did so because he was gauging the crew's response. He hadn't meant to stare at Kate but his eyes just naturally gravitated to Kate as she and Tex managed to prop themselves a little higher than the crew. She looked better than she had yesterday, her hair was tied back in a messy bun and she had grease marks on her neck and on her hands as she wore a navy workman's jumpsuit. It hadn't missed his attention that she wasn't wearing her wedding ring as her left hand gripped the wall for balance. There was no gold glint on her hand, he wondered if it meant something but right now was not the time for him to speculate. He also didn't need Tom catching him staring at Kate

"It's easy to believe in people when they are succeeding" Tom looked into the Lab at Rachel "But that's not what we're about" Tom said as he looked at Rachel, Kate could have sworn she saw the two share a smile before he continued. "We have to believe in each other when we fail and if we have to go back to Nicaragua for more monkeys then we will" Tom continued but Kate's attention waned again.

Kate had no doubt that Tom could sell water to a fish but she found his speech a little over the top for her tastes. But it worked for the crew even Jeter and Mike puffed their chests out looking proud to be a member of the crew and they believed the Captain's fortitude and the hope he was bestowing on the crew. She wrote it off as an American thing as she had never had a superior officer give such long winded talks about being a team and hope and the 'ra-ra' of being honoured to be a part of something bigger. No most of the talks she had received had been short and sweet with some promise of free 'slab' of beer. Not that they ever got the beer but the sentiment was nice at the time the speech was given. She was in the middle of calculating how much beer her former CO owed her when Tom's words sifted through her thoughts catching her attention.

"- The chiefs and officers on this ship will share with you what we know good or bad" he said, Kate's brows drew together as she wondered if that transparency he was giving the crew included Evan's transcripts. An uneasy feeling filled her as Tom continued to talk about crew members wanting to leave but Kate didn't care. She was more concerned for herself. Leaving the ship wasn't an option for her not with what Evan had told her and most definitely since she had nothing to go home to. She didn't even have a home. She looked down at the ground as if it held all the answers as she waited for the Captain to finish talking when Tex placed a hand her shoulder catching her attention. She looked to him and he gave her a look of concern.

"You ok?" he mouthed at her, Kate gave a tight nod even though it wasn't true. She really needed to get out of the Helo bay and quick but knew she wasn't going anywhere until the meeting was over.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

* * *

They had just wrapped up what Mike liked to call the 'afternoon school special' in Helo bay one. After the crew were dismissed. Mike had stayed behind to kick out the last stragglers and answer questions before closing the large bay door; giving Dr Scott her lab back to return to her work. Once the large door had shuttered closed he looked around and noticed Kate standing at the back of ship by herself. For some reason he didn't want to waste any more time and decided it was time to talk with her. Even if the flight deck wasn't exactly private but at least he could see anyone coming towards them to end the conversation if he needed to as he didn't want the crew knowing his personal life.

"Lassiter, you're looking brighter today" Mike commented as he moved to stand by Kate's side as she stood at the back railing of the ship. She looked out at the ocean, her hands gripped the railing so tightly her knuckles were white. He wondered what was eating at her as he had seen her look slightly panicked in the Helo bay during Tom's speech

"I'm getting along alright" Kate said as she loosened her grip on the railing and looked to Mike. He had his back to the ocean view looking to the flight deck and ship. She had wanted to be left alone to enjoy some fresh air and sunlight, Tex forgetting that he wanted to know what she was keeping secrets. Some that may or may not concern him. She wouldn't know more until the results were in and even then she needed the information in the Data packet. Everything she assumed or knew for certain was tightly wound up inside of her to the point that it was painful. She was not made to keep secrets, when she was in military it was different. She had orders but now being a civilian; these decisions, the secrets she kept were of her own doing and she hated as she knew it would bite her in the ass.

"Good" Mike said Kate frowned at him as she was suspicious to why he was being nice to her. She thought perhaps last night had been an aberration or perhaps she had been hallucinating but right now there was no convenient excuse.

"Is this some kind of mind game where you're going to wheedle out all my secrets and giggle about them with the Captain?" Kate asked Mike, he looked amused as he shook his head.

"No, but we do have to talk" Mike told her. Kate leaned down and propped her elbows on the railing for a brief moment and rubbed her face with her hands.

"I take it this is about the transcripts?" Kate asked in an exhausted tone she had hoped Mike wouldn't get into it with her. She was tired of the interrogation tactics and she knew that any insult Mike threw her way would hurt a lot more than anything Tom could come up with though Tom's comment about her 'bending over backwards for a man' had stung her ego.

"That's between you and the Captain" Mike told her.

"You're staying out of it?" Kate asked him, her tone sceptical as she wasn't sure whether to believe him. She truly wanted to let her guard down around him, actually she wanted to break down and just say everything on her mind but couldn't.

"I'll do a lot of things for my country-" Mike started but Kate cut him off.

"But you won't 'do' me" Kate said in a dry tone as she found it thoroughly amusing if somewhat a little disappointing because no woman liked to know she was undesirable. She straightened up and turned to face him and folded her arms across her chest taking up a defensive posture.

_I guess it shows he has more integrity than you_… Kate thought as she was sure if their roles were reversed she couldn't say she'd have the same respect but she was craving physical comfort right now. Her mind was showing her a rather lovely film of memories reminding her of exactly what was hiding under that uniform he wore and how very capable he was at making her forget her own name with pleasure.

"Not for my country or under orders from the Captain" Mike told her, he locked eyes with her and she clearly saw what he was thinking. Kate's heart sped up slightly as her body decided it was time to wake up and become fully aware of the man standing next to her. He was definitely clear in his message as she knew that look in his eyes. He used to give her that look whenever they met up, and usually within 5 minutes or less they'd end up in bed. She wondered why he was intentionally giving her mixed messages because right now it was incredibly annoying and frustrating.

"Smooth." Kate replied as she didn't know what else to say because there was no way she was going to tell him that he shouldn't look at her like that way. It would only feed into his ego and frankly she wasn't sure if he was playing her. If he was then it crush her ego as she would come off as some weak needy woman, sure it was ok for her to know and acknowledge that part of her but she wasn't going to let anyone see it.

"I wouldn't want you to think-"

"That you were betraying me? What is going on here?" Kate asked him.

"Part of being XO is looking after crew morale" Mike offered with a shrug as he thought he made the message pretty clear but obviously Kate needed it spelled out and if he were honest he wanted to be clear with her. He just needed time to work up to it. Kate gave a huff of laughter as she took a step back from him, he didn't have to wonder why as he saw her tuck her hands closer to her body. It was a defensive posture, one he expected.

"Well, I'll be back to 100% after a couple more good nights of sleep" Kate informed him in a blithe tone.

"Good to hear" Mike said casually. Silence lapsed between them and Kate began to wonder why he hadn't left to go do whatever else he did with his time. Several minutes passed before she couldn't keep quiet.

"Do you think those people are going to leave?" Kate asked him, mentally kicking herself as she was a coward. Her brain screamed at her to just ask him why he was still here and what he wanted. Were they going to talk about the kiss but she had just changed the direction of the conversation. You i_diot..._ Kate thought to herself.

"I don't know, you thinking of joining them?" he asked her, he looked to her waiting for her response as he saw how twitchy she had been in the lab. While her name wasn't on the list of those wanting to leave, he could understand her wanting leave the ship. They hadn't exactly made her feel welcome, himself included and he had no clue who or what she had waiting for her off the ship. But right now, he didn't see her wanting to escape instead he saw grief and loneliness flutter across her face and disappear behind a mask. Her features grew neutral like a well trained soldier but she couldn't hide the pain in her eyes.

"I have nothing and no one out there that needs me. I'll eventually head back to San Diego and bury what's left of Evan but he's not going anywhere" Kate said blithly with a shrug. If he didn't know her like he did, he would think she were incredibly callous but he knew the more flippant or apathetic Kate sounded about something signified that she cared deeply, she just didn't want to be emotional about it.

"At least I'm semi-useful, as long as there is fuel for the Helo and you guys need my ident. codes to the satellite networks. Anyway, I should let you get back to the bridge" Kate told him waving a dismissive hand at him and turning back to look at the ocean. Mike edged closer to her as he continued to lean his hip against the railing but kept his body facing the ship. He didn't want to appear confrontational or make her feel cornered.

"I'm off duty at the moment" Mike told her.

"Then I should let you go get some rest. Assuming you're on night watch" Kate told him as she gripped the railing with both hands and slightly leaned back, she didn't even look at him as she just wanted him to go. She wasn't sure what she hated more. Mike acting nice or being an asshole to her but right now she wanted him to be the asshole because then she knew she wouldn't be disappointed when he left, the bubble of hope that had been ever present in her for the past 4 and half years that he would come back would slowly fade away.

"Can't we just share this bit of railing for a while?" Mike asked her, it got her attention as she looked at him. She leaned back with her arms locked and keeping her grip on the railing.

"Are you feeling alright?" Kate asked him with an odd look on her face. Mike chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine" he assured her.

"So I'm hallucinating. That's just dandy" Kate drawled sarcastically.

"Why would you think that?" Mike asked her in an amused tone.

"Because you're being nice to me and hanging around me which you've spent a good 4 month not doing. It's confusing and giving me mixed messages" Kate told him flat out as she was getting anxious for him to go. She knew she could walk away but she didn't want to.

"I'm not trying to confuse you" Mike told her earnestly, Kate wince at his words.

"You're doing a great job of it" She informed with a sigh as she considered for a brief moment that she might save herself a lot of grief if she just flung herself overboard and swim for the sure but she had a feeling Mike would follow her and drag her back because he obviously had something on his mind that he wanted to talk about. She just wished he would get to the point and just say what he wanted and be done.

"Well I figure ignoring you or being an asshole doesn't work-" Mike stopped as Kate interrupted him.

"Mike, I'm sure you're about to give me a well practised and lovely speech but just get to the point" Kate told him. He gave a nod, though he would have preferred the speech he had practised.

"I want us start over right now and wipe the slate clean" He said to her, Kate was surprised and wondered if maybe she should have heard the speech because now she was even more confused. She figured he'd tell her, the kiss meant nothing and that he did want her to leave the ship so then he could go back to whatever bubble he lived in where he pretended that his marriage with Christina was salvageable and worth it because his kids needed two parents. In some regards his thinking was very old fashioned in Kate's opinion but she liked that about him, he was a gentleman when he wanted to be except now where he was throwing her through a hoop.

"A clean slate?" Kate repeated dumbly as it was not what he expected to say. "You know you can never get slate completely clean?" Kate added even though what she really wanted to ask was why but was too chicken to.

"I know and I think we can agree. We both fucked up, it was supposed to be a fling and it became more" he said what they both hadn't been game enough to say years ago. "I'm not asking for you and I to pretend we're meeting for the first time, I don't want that." he told her.

"What do you want?" Kate asked feeling incredibly flustered as that bubble of hope in her chest grew a couple inches.

"A lot of things, but right now I want us to acknowledge that we still have something here that goes a little beyond physical attraction or old memories." He told her, Kate closed her eyes for a moment to calm her nerves and mustered her strength before she opened them and looked at him. She felt the constant yet subtle tension that had between them from day one of her being on the Nathan James flare up.

"Yeah it's called 4 years, 6 months and 12 or so hours where it seems what we feel hasn't changed but we are still at an impasse" Kate said bluntly as she wondered if she was reading way too much into what he was saying because it was like he was saying he wanted her back. But right now she had a feeling there was nothing to lose _except my pride..._ Kate thought to herself.

"I know and even you have to admit that we've changed from who we were then" Mike argued but he couldn't help but feel a zing of pleasure zap through him from her statement even if she was wrong. They weren't at an impasse.

"I'm still lost as to what you want from me and I would like you to be a little more specific about what you want from me" Kate said to him.

"I want us to get to know one another again-"

"To be friends?" Kate asked sceptically, because she knew she could try but ultimately she couldn't be friends with Mike. It wasn't the fact that she would have trouble keeping her hands to herself it was that she couldn't listen to his marital problems and watch him go back to his wife a second time. She still had feelings for Mike and that annoying bubble of hope that reasserted itself the past 24 hours.

"As something to build on" Mike said. Kate's eyes went wide for a moment.

"Build on what? One day you're going to leave the ship and reunite with Christina and your daughters" Kate told him, and just hearing her say those words crushed her just a little on the inside.

"One day I'm going to leave this ship and I want you with me as we track down my daughters if they are still alive. Christina and I are done-" Mike started but Kate gave a sardonic laugh and shook her head.

"Please excuse me if I'm sceptical about you being 'done' with your wife" Kate said in a rich tone.

"You're allowed to be which is one of the only saving graces of all this" he tilted his head towards the ship "It gives me time to prove to you that I'm serious about this" he told her.

"Tell me what changed your mind?" Kate asked him.

"I was in my CBR gear pacing the bridge and I realised I could continue failing at marriage or I could acknowledge I can't make it work because if I'm honest my heart isn't in it" he explained.

"And so your heart is serious in this. You and Me? where there hasn't been an 'us' in years" Kate asked him.

"I want to try now" He told her.

"Mike, I'm not a pair of shoes" Kate told him in a defeated tone. She threw up her hands in frustration "And look at where we are. It's not like you can slip off your ring and say 'hey, let's catch a movie'. " Kate added.

"I realise it's not going to be easy. Obviously while we're on the Nathan James I can't act as anything more than a friend but we can use this time to get to know one another better. Because once my duty here is finished and I step off this ship onto solid ground, I'm going to go find my kids. I want you with me, at my side. I let you go once before but now you're here it's a second chance" he told her.

"So you want me and what? my company resources?" Kate asked him wryly.

"You're so fucking paranoid. I want you" Mike told her, feeling aggravated that she wasn't taking him at face value.

"And your kids" Kate added.

"Them too but here right now, I'm telling you that I want you and this time I'm not walking away from we got here" he told her.

"On the bridge-" Kate started but he cut her off.

"I was angry and hurt, what I said. I was lashing out and yes there is a grain of truth to them but I've had time to think. That one year we had was better than the last 8 years of my marriage. I want you because I'd rather be with you and be happy than go back to a never ending cycle with Christina. I think if we just get to know one another again that we could have something worth keeping here. I want to seriously explore it" Mike told her, he saw the tears in her eyes as she took a step back and turned away from him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking and he wondered how she became so screwed up that she couldn't see what he was offering her. She pressed a hand to her forehead and her other hand on her hip and turned to face him.

She looked at him as if she wasn't entirely sure she could believe him. She opened her mouth to speak but shut it as she didn't know what to say. There he was the man she loved and let go, now standing before offering himself up on a plate to her. Yet all she could think was that it was some kind of trick not to be believed but she wanted to believe it. But she also wanted to break down and cry because she had waited for this moment and here it was and she was freaking out.

"I wasn't expecting this" Kate told him, he could see her wanting to say yes but there was a wariness about her like she was expecting him to snatch away the offer. "You're serious about this?" Kate asked him taking a step closer to him.

"I am, but as long as I'm on this ship. I have responsibilities and a standard of behaviour to uphold. To the crew and Tom; I'm married, which means I can't act as anything more than your friend. But like I said before once we're off this ship, I'm yours if you'll have me" Mike told her earnestly.

"Mike-" Kate started.

_"Commander Slattery, come in" _Jeter'svoice carried over the radio interrupting the moment. Mike was half tempted to smash the stupid thing as he wanted to know what Kate was going to say.

"Answer it" Kate told him.

"Go ahead" he said into his radio, he barely listened to whatever Jeter wanted him for as he was caught up in Kate. She looked so incredibly fragile that he wished they were somewhere more private than the flight deck as he would have wrapped her up in his arms. But he couldn't. He became vague aware that Jeter gave him a location and then he replied he was on his way. He looked down at Kate.

"You don't have to give me an answer now or tomorrow. Just think about it and let me know when you're ready" he told her. Kate gave a nod looking slightly relieved to be given a reprieve and he wondered if that was a good sign for him or not but he knew he couldn't pressure her. "I have to go" he said awkwardly and walked away.

As he did, he looked over his shoulder as he reached the side door to the Helo bay 2 and saw Kate had turned back to looking out at the ocean. He gave a sigh and opened the door heading inside. Now he just had to wait and hope that Kate wanted him as much as he did her.

* * *

A few hours later,

Kate knocked on the Captain's stateroom door. She had no idea if he was even in there but she needed to talk with him. She needed to convince him to download the data packet and suffer through him being an insufferable ass even if she was too exhausted. Mike's declaration still had her mind boggled and part of her reason for coming to Tom was that she didn't want to be suspicious of Mike intentions. She figured if she gave Tom some information it would somehow absolve her and give her some peace of mind at not having to keep track of the half truths. It was a head ache she didn't want so she was here to give Tom just enough information to hopefully earn her some much needed trust from him but not enough to condemn herself.

"Come in" Tom said, Kate opened the door to find him with a pile of paper work on his coffee table. Kate couldn't help but be amused that some things like paperwork never died. At least taxes weren't an any issue for the foreseeable future.

"Sorry to interrupt" Kate said moving to step back out but Tom waved her in not giving her a chance to leave.

"You're not, what is it Lassiter? Come to apologise?" Tom asked her, there was a slightly patronising lilt to his tone she didn't appreciate but then she knew he was having a shocker of a day.

"I don't apologise unless I feel it necessary. I came here to talk" Kate informed him as she closed the door behind her.

"About?" Tom asked, he gestured to the seat opposite him at the lounge.

"It depends on if it's not part of your 'transparency' kick with the crew" Kate said to him as she sat down in the chair, she really didn't want to be here but for her own peace of mind she stayed.

"Depends on what you tell me" Tom said rather contrarily.

"It's about the Data Packet" Kate told him knowing she deserved his comeback.

"I'm not going to break radio silence for sketchy intel" Tom informed her.

"It's not sketchy, it's months of information compiled from all over the world tailored specifically to help you with this mission" Kate said correcting him.

"How would you know for sure?" Tom asked.

"Because if you had known Evan you would know he doesn't do anything half assed. Why would he do so now?" Kate asked. Tom sat back in his chair and rubbed his face with both of his hands.

"I'm not going argue with you about this" he sighed in frustration.

"Good, then let me finish what I have to say before jumping down my throat" Kate snapped at him. She couldn't help but be annoyed.

"Ok" Tom said, he lowered his hands from his face and gave her an impatient look.

"I spoke with Rachel about the possible intel Evan has stored for us. I think there is research pertaining to research on the virus and possible theories on a vaccine" Kate said carefully, the news made Tom sit up and take attention.

"Why wasn't that in the translated transcripts or the report you gave me?" Tom asked her incredulously.

"Because I wanted to talk to Rachel about it first and I knew you'd flip your lid when I told you so I wanted to be sure of myself" Kate answered.

"I'm really doing my best not to get angry with you. So why don't you just tell me everything that you feel comfortable telling me" Tom said with as much patience as he could muster which was very little at the moment.

"There is a possibility that Evan had scientists working on a vaccine but they didn't get a chance to do a trial study due to unforeseen complications" Kate said.

"Unforeseen complications?" Tom looked at the coffee table for a long moment as exhaustion washed over her from trying to find the right words, so she didn't sound crazy or set Tom off. It also didn't help that she was thinking of what Mike would think once he found out. It would be a deal breaker for him. But here she was with Tom and all she could think was 'in for a penny in for a pound'.

"Lassiter Industries contractually has all of it's operators have bi-yearly medical physicals and booster shots unless there are extenuating circumstances. Either way, I'm assuming-"

"assuming?"

"The details Evan told me were too ambiguous at best. I wasn't sure of what he was saying and it was close to the time when his mind was deteriorating and the message became unintelligible. But I spoke with Rachel and she told me to come to you and make you aware" Kate told him.

"Ok, so you're assuming what?" Tom prompted her.

"The booster shots I had 8 months ago were not above board FDA wise because I believe somehow it may have turned some operators into asymptomatic carriers of the virus" Kate told him.

"So you-"

"I'm not infected nor am I a carrier but I have the potential to become one. I assume I'll become a carrier if I'm exposed but I won't know for sure until Dr Scott runs blood tests and she has the information in the data packet regarding the virus" Kate told him.

"I sat with you here only a few days ago talking about Dr Scott's failure to find a vaccine and you didn't tell me any of this"

"I hadn't slept for three days, I had a blinding headache excuse me if I didn't remember some minor details from a series of messages that was over 20 hours long. I wasn't my best and I remember us never actually discussing what was in the Data Packet before you insinuated that I was a whore" Kate told him in a matter of fact manner.

"I didn't call you a whore" Tom told her defensively but realising his bad choice of words as he meant something entirely different.

"Something about me bending over for a man. Sounds like you're calling a whore or a slut because you never accused me of gaining something from being promiscuous" Kate said in a cold tone.

"We're getting off topic" Tom said as he knew better than to get into a conversation about a woman's sex life.

"You're right" Kate admitted, she pulled out a piece of folded paper from her pocket and tossed it on the table. "The uplink and download should take less than a minute, on the paper is my identification code, my army service number, my birthday and a bunch of random letters Evan made me memorize for company stuff like this assume and anything else I could remember that he would use as an encryption password. It's all yours" Kate told him in an ungrateful manner as she just handed him more than she wanted to but knew it was the only way to move forward.

"But it's not everything" Tom said. Kate gave him shrug and a tired smile.

"It's the best I can give you. The rest of the untranslated transcripts are mine until I read what's in the Data Packet which you'll have full access to anyway. But I'd prefer you not tell the crew about this or share that information on the paper to anyone except Mike. So are we good?" Kate asked him as she rose from her chair getting ready to leave.

"We'll see" Tom told her.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews and story favourites.. Also welcome to new readers :-D... P.S. all the science and Helo operations stuff is entire B.S. so let it slide and enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 22**

* * *

A few days later,

"What's up with Lassiter?" Grodin asked Tex in the ward room during breakfast. Mike who was half way through his own breakfast; paused mid sip of his second coffee of the morning to listen. Considering how low the stores on coffee was becoming he knew he should start to cut back so when they did run back his withdrawal would be easier but couldn't bring himself to so yet.

"What do you mean?" Tex asked Grodin casually. Mike looked between the two men gauging the conversation and wondering if he should just listen or shut it down.

"She's been quiet the last few days. Is she sick or something?" Grodin asked in an idle tone but Mike had a feeling the kid was more worried about never getting back in the sky than he was about Kate's well being.

Though Mike hadn't seen Kate the last few days but then he had heard that she had been hitting the gym and sleeping more. Doc Rios cleared her for flight duty and the reason he heard about her being in the gym was that he overheard Lt Granderson talking with Lt Foster about how she couldn't believe the muscle control and flexibility Kate had performed whilst doing her yoga practice. It wasn't something new as he had seen her practise before. But he had to admit he was glad it was the women talking as they tended to be more respectful and save their 'dirty' talk about who was 'hot' or not to their quarters where he would never hear it.

Saved him from clipping them upside the head and reminding them to be respectful and hearing scuttlebutt kept him updated considering he was giving Kate the time she needed to think over his declaration. Even if he did feel like six kinds of stupid for letting her have time to think on it. Only because it left him in limbo waiting for an answer but it did give him a few days breathing room to only confirm that he hadn't been going on a gut reaction. In fact the more time that passed the more certain he was that it was the right decision.

Even if he had felt he was forever justifying his decisions in his mind so he didn't feel like a selfish ass. An example was that once he was off the Nathan James he would find his daughters. His love for them didn't diminish and he realised his failure of marriage should be a reflection on them. He knew he could wait it out for another decade with Christina but then what kind of message did that send his kids about a healthy relationship. There was the fact it would be a miserable decade and he wanted to selfish, he wanted to be happy and he knew in his gut that Kate was it. She was the missing piece and he just hoped she would say 'yes' and come with him as he really liked the idea of being with her again. But until then he'd have to wait until then he'd keep moving forward and doing his job.

"Hey Doc, you're bunk mates with Red. She coming down with something?" Tex asked Rachel who had just come into the wardroom to pour herself a fresh cup of tea.

"I assure you she is perfectly healthy and frankly I prefer she get some sleep than have to deal with you and your pathetic infatuation with her" Rachel said rather snidely. It was obvious the recent failures were starting to get to Rachel as she usually quietly slipped in and out of the ward room without getting involved with the crew let alone talking to them. Mike wondered if he should shut the conversation down as her slightly aggressive comment raised a lot of eyebrows in the room.

"I'm not infatuated with Lassiter" Grodin told her flat out making a face. Mike tried not to laugh as he placed his coffee on the table and picked up his knife and fork to continue eating.

"My apologies, it just seems for someone who dislikes Kate; you have a rather unhealthy obsession about where she is and how she is" Rachel said in a mockingly thoughtful manner as she moved around the table heading for the door.

"That is true maybe I should be asking what your intentions towards Red are being as I am the only person on board whose known her the longest." Tex said scratching his chin in a thoughtful manner joining Rachel in baiting Grodin. Mike watched as the kid fell for the game as his cheeks went red and his jaw dropped.

"I have no intentions towards Lassiter like that. She's just my co-worker. That's all" Grodin told Tex in a firm manner. Tex gave a wry smile at the man but before he could reply Kate got in first.

"Well that's comforting because I'd hate to break your heart kid" Kate said as she came into the wardroom. She stepped to side as Rachel passed her leaving the room to go back to her lab to work.

"I'm not a kid and-" Grodin started but Kate cut him off.

"Relax, I'm stirring you but just in case you get tempted the answer is no because you don't have enough stamina and imagination to keep me entertained" Kate told him with a mocking smile as she moved to the tea and coffee station and made herself a cup of peppermint tea. Chuckles emitted from the others in the room who had been pretending to mind their own business. She couldn't help but bait Grodin as he tended to be an easy target.

"Lassiter" Mike said in tone giving her a subtle warning to remind her that sex was a taboo conversation in the wardroom.

"Apologies, Commander" Kate said locking eyes with him and looking slightly chastised as she took the empty chair beside Tex. Mike gave her a mock patient look and went back to his breakfast. A slight smile graced his lips, any earlier thoughts that made her believe he might have ulterior motives when he wanted to have a relationship with her. In fact the last few days had been hellish as hadn't been sure of him or even herself in what she wanted. It wasn't like their situation gave Kate a lot of hope. There were too many variables, too many unknowns and she wasn't ready to jump back into their intense relationship but she was ready for the comfort of having a partner. The comfort she remembered so vividly from their time together.

"Red, you feeling ok?" Tex asked Kate breaking her from her thoughts of Mike and making her blush slightly as she had practically been staring at the man. _could you be more obvious..._ Kate mentally chastised herself.

Mike wondered for a moment if she was alright as she had completely spaced out and had been looking in his direction. He wore a confused expression while inwardly pleased as a slight blush graced her cheeks. She moved her eyes to the table in front of her and pursed her lips in annoyance at the question and Mike didn't blame her. She looked healthy, well rested, there was no real signs of illness except for the slight shadow under her eyes. She looked good dressed in her usual get up of a white v-neck and black skinny jeans with her hair pulled back in a messy bun.

"Fine, yourself?" Kate asked Tex as she slouched down in the chair getting comfortable. She wished people would stop freaking out about a possible outbreak on the ship and looking to her as if she could be a source because she had nothing better to do with her time besides sleep, yoga and watching TV. That and stew over how or when she would be able to talk to Mike again without broadcasting it to the whole crew.

"Good, so you're not sick?" Tex asked her, Kate gave him a droll look.

"Do I look sick to you?" Kate asked him in annoyed tone. Tex gave a shrug.

"No but Grodin was real worried about you since you're becoming a space cadet" Tex said in a mock serious tone. Kate made a derisive noise and shook her head.

"Grodin should be more worried about himself" Kate told Tex ignoring the comment about her being a space cadet.

"I'm right here" Grodin said as he obviously didn't like how Tex and Kate spoke as if he wasn't in the room.

"I know and could we all talk about weather or something a little more exciting than me and Grodin's weird fixated paranoia on my health?" Kate asked.

* * *

"Remember I told you I discovered an extra gene on the virus. All this time I was struggling to figure out where it came from. It turns out it's a human gene" Rachel said with a cautious manner as she wasn't entirely sure how Captain Chandler would react. Sometimes he was too hard for her to decipher and this was one of those times as he stared right at her barely blinking with his serious expression. It made her feel like she was in the principal's office trying to talk herself out of getting into trouble.

They stood outside the quarantined area that was her work space for the last few months. She hadn't wanted to talk to him about what she had found as it only asked more questions that she didn't have answers for. Yet. But still Tom liked to invade her space and ask for updates so she gave him what she could which never felt like enough.

"Someone added a human gene to the virus, why?" Tom asked her.

"I have no idea. But no matter what I try the virus seems to be one step ahead of me. It's outsmarting whatever I throw at it. What's worse is that it has made the original virus ten times more lethal and virtually indestructible." Rachel said she hated how she couldn't just stand still and look directly at him but she was waiting for him to shout at her. She wasn't afraid of his anger, it was that she would never be able to restore his faith in her abilities.

"How many monkeys do you have left? Three?" Tom asked her, she could sense the disappoint edging into his tone as he looked into the makeshift quarantine zone with the three monkeys in their cages.

"Two" Rachel corrected him. Tom pursed his lips and seemed to think on the situation. She could only assume he was assessing whether they should go back to Nicaragua or remain where they were before he looked to her.

"Ok, well what about Lassiter's test results?" Tom asked changing the topic, it threw her for a moment as she expected him to ask if she wanted them to turn the ship around to Nicaragua for more monkeys not about Kate. The redhead whom also was rather an enigma genetically speaking, something Rachel had yet to finish fully analysing.

"Preliminary results are somewhat intriguing" Rachel remarked downplaying it as she wasn't entirely sure what she should tell Tom given she hadn't even spoken to Kate yet. But then Rachel wasn't even entirely sure of what she had found which was why she decided to keep the answers clean and short.

"How so?" Tom asked following her.

"Kate didn't tell me what to look for so I did a broad range of blood tests" Rachel said, she brought up the preliminary test results and images of Kate's blood work. She knew it would mean nothing to Tom but felt it would help her explain it to him.

"So what's intriguing about it?" he asked there was a slightly mocking lilt as he felt the choice of words not to be very comforting.

"She had been exposed to the original virus" Rachel said stating the most relevant information to their situation. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain that Kate's blood test results told her that Kate was in amazing health. Something Rachel hadn't expected given the fact Kate had suffered a concussion and sleep deprivation before the testing. It wasn't normal, nor was the fact that Kate seemed to bounce back to being healthy in such quick form. So Rachel had dug deeper looking at her genetics. She hadn't been able to look at the results properly yet but what she did see shocked her nearly as much as finding the human gene attached to the virus had.

"I thought you tested-" Tom started to berate her or so she assumed he was going to so she cut him off.

"I tested anyone who was off the ship who came into contact with the sick. Kate was not one of them but before you interrupt again let me assure you that she is not contagious or a even carrier of the virus. The strain she was exposed to was the original strain I first encountered in Egypt which did not have the human gene attached to it" Rachel told him.

"Why wouldn't she tell us about this?" Tom asked her.

"Because I don't think she knows" Rachel told him.

"Then could you use her blood to make a vaccine?" Tom asked her, his tone hopeful but Rachel shook her head.

"No, because I don't believe she is immune to the current strain-" Rachel didn't get to finish her sentence as the door to the lab swung open and Mike leaned into the room. Rachel and Tom looked to him, Mike wore a serious expression not even apologetic for interrupting them.

"Captain, I require you and Dr Scott in the CIC immediately. Ensign Mason has found something I think you need to hear" Mike told them.

* * *

A few minutes later in the CIC.

"Sir, she's an 18 year old girl from Jamaica. She's on a fishing boat off the coast St John point. I first logged her three weeks ago; there were 50 people on her boat. Week later we heard her again but then there were only 15 people left" Ensign Mason told them as he held the log book in his hand. The kid looked incredibly anxious as he wasn't sure who to address as he looked between Tom, Mike and Rachel.

"And now she's alone" Tom said. Mason nodded.

"So if everyone on the boat has died from the virus and she's the only one alive. Then it could be that she's naturally immune" Rachel speculated. Tom perked up at that information.

"You want us to find her?" Tom asked Rachel.

"No I need you to find her" Rachel told him firmly as her mind raced a million miles an hour at the possibility of finding person immune to the virus. "If I can take a look at her DNA, I might be able to figure a way to beat this thing" she said. Tom was about to ask her about Kate's blood work given that Rachel had been interrupted by this. But Mike spoke first.

"It's awfully convenient" Mike said playing devil's advocate. He knew he called the meeting but he didn't like the situation and now he could feel trouble brewing as he mentally assessed the situation.

"You think it's a trap?" Tom asked him saying out loud what Mike was thinking.

"I don't know." Mike said to Tom he looked to Rachel "How many immune people in the world?" he asked the Doctor.

"It would be incredibly rare but of course they exist" Rachel told them.

"Are you absolutely sure that it's been this girl's voice on the radio the entire time" Tom asked Mason.

"I know that voice" Mason told him. Tom thought over it for a moment, feeling everyone's eyes on him as he made his decision.

"Gator" Tom said, he looked over to the navigator station in the CIC where the Ensign on duty looked up and acknowledged his rank with a 'sir'. "Any idea where she might be?" Tom asked him, the man took a moment looking at the map and then back at Tom.

"I have 4 RDF bearings from some of her earlier transmissions. 60% confidence of her position within a 10 mile radius" he answered, Tom took a breat and looked down at the floor as it wasn't exactly what he was hoping to hear. He looked to Mike.

"Boat that size still take hours to find her. If we found her at all" Tom said in a low voice to Mike, his XO murmured a noise of agreement as he nodded his head and looked ready to put in his two cents. Something Tom knew would be along the lines of 'let's not bother' when Ensign Mason spoke.

"Sir, she's all alone out there. She's running out of water, we don't even know how much longer she'll last. We have to reach out to her" Ensign Mason implored, the young man had been listening to the outside world for months and obviously grown attached to all the people he had listened to. Something about this girl must have struck a cord with the man as he would not have been so forward in his request.

"Sir, if I may breaking radio silence will broadcast our bearing out there to anyone listening" Mike reminded Tom.

Tom thought on it for a long moment before he made his decision. "Someone get Lassiter up here, Now" he ordered.

* * *

"You're looking skinny Red. You starving yourself?" Tex asked as he was lying on his back bench pressing weights while Kate stood at his head with her hands out spotting him. So he kept the weights light and decided on more reps as he wasn't keen on a heavy workout or the bar being too heavy for Kate to rescue him.

"No, I've been eating so stop mothering me and push the bar. Unless it's too heavy for you" Kate mocked him as her focus was on the long bar in his hand and his arms watching for fatigue and keeping an eye on his grip.

"The bar is light and what are you eating? ear wax? No one's seen you in the wardroom for meals. This morning was the first time I'd seen you there in three days and you drank tea" Tex said as he continued to pump the bar.

"I go to the wardroom after hours as Gym is usually empty during meal times. I like to exercise without an audience unlike you" Kate teased him, there were four other people in the room performing various fitness activities proving her point. But Tex had asked her to join him and felt it would be rude not to catch up with him. Anyway it wasn't like she had anything better to do.

"Lassiter" Burk called from the open door, Kate looked over shoulder.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Captain wants you in CIC now" Burk told her.

* * *

A couple minutes later, Burke opened the door to CIC and Kate stepped into the dimly lit room. The conversation in the room stopped and all eyes turned to her. She wondered what she could have done wrong to earn such a reception.

"What's up?" Kate asked Tom as she walked further into the room.

"I'm about to break radio silence. This is your one and only chance to get that data packet. Lt Foster will assist you" Tom told her, Kate frowned as she gave Tom everything he needed to access the information. He didn't need her at all but knowing better than to question him she moved to Lt Foster's station. The young woman was at her station waiting for Kate, hands on the key board in front of her primed to go.

"And we are broadcasting" a soldier said as Tom picked up the radio headset from the closest station to him and started to hail an unknown vessel. Kate turned her attention to Lt Foster who awaited her orders and told the woman what they were doing and repeated the signal code for the closest satellite that held the Data Packet. She only remembered it because it was a short sequence of numbers and letters.

Lt Foster made quick work of identifying the Satellite and tried to hail it. Kate mustered all the patience she had as the uplink was taking a long time to establish. Lt Foster informed her that the satellite was barely in range hence the slow connection. After several seconds passed by that felt like an hour they established a connection and the satellite asked for access codes to complete the link.

"Ma'am" Lt Foster prompted, she rolled her chair back and Kate leaned forward and typed in her identification code. She stepped back and watched the data packet instantly began to download. She looked over her shoulder to see where the others were at.

Rachel was standing to the side looking anxious as she watched the Captain talked with young woman named 'Bertrise' trying to get her GPS location. Mike looked at her and tapped his watch telling her she didn't have much time as the Captain was promising to pick up the woman.

"Ma'am, download is complete" Lt Foster said in a low voice so as not to disturb the action in the room.

"Ok, sever the connection" Kate said stating the obvious.

"It requires your access codes for that" Lt Foster told her.

"Apologies" Kate said as she had no idea as she didn't know what to expect. She typed in the code and the link between the Nathan James and the satellite severed. Lt Foster informed out loud that the connection to the Satellite was disconnected and few other navy slang words that Kate had no clue what they meant but Mike acknowledge them. Kate looked over to Tom.

"Hang tight, we're on our way" Tom said into the radio, he took off the head set and looked to Kate.

"Lassiter?" he asked.

"We got it and it's all yours" Kate told him.

"Ma'am" Lt Foster said prompting Kate to turn back to her screen. Kate turned around and looked at the screen as it was asking for an access code. She typed in three different codes until she got the right one only to be greeted with another screen asking for yet another code. Kate wondered annoyingly how tightly Evan had locked up the information as it felt a little extreme when she finished going through 4 more screens asking for pass codes before it said it was decompressing the information.

"And we're decompressing it now" Kate told him, Tom moved over to their screen and saw the bar on the screen, it ticked 5% and had no estimated time of completion.

"How long will it take to access the information?" Tom asked her.

"How long is a piece of string?" Kate asked him in a dry tone.

"You could just say you don't know" Tom told her in a bland tone. Kate gave a shrug as he was right but she figured he wouldn't appreciate her sarcasm if she had responded with 'it seemed like more fun this way'.

"Lt Foster" Tom asked seeing if the Lieutenant had an answer.

"I don't know sir" the young woman said, Tom turned to Kate.

"You stay here until it's finished and it all better be in English" he told her.

"Can't promise you that it will all be in English but it's all yours" Kate told him. She watched as he and Mike walked out of the room and then pulled up a chair and sat next to Lt Foster's station. _Oh please, there's no need to thank me Captain or acknowledge that I might have other things to do than sit on my ass watching a computer screen..._ Kate thought in an annoyed at the ungrateful reception or orders to stay.

* * *

A few hours later,

Kate was sitting in a chair with wheels moving from side to side bored out of her mind and possibly annoying every occupant in the room as she could not sit still. Not that any of them said anything but it was just a vibe, but then it wasn't like she had anything to do but sit on her behind and wait. An hour into their long wait Kate had taken a bathroom break and retrieved her iphone and USB connection cord from her bag. She turned it on assuming she would need it at some point as it held a lot of programs she needed for storing, encrypting and decrypting Lassiter Industries files.

It was probably the only iphone in existence that didn't have angry birds or any games for that matter to play with. but then Kate felt uncomfortable using a business phone for entertainment or social purposes.

"It's encrypted" Lt Foster told Kate, getting her attention. She looked at the screen as it asked for yet another pass code and for a program to be linked it. At least it was a screen she understood. She rolled her chair over closer to Foster's station and handed her iphone and connect cord to her.

"Here connect my iphone and enter in the following" Kate waited until Foster was ready and repeated her identification code out loud to Foster to save herself from typing it.

"Ok" Foster said once the code was entered. A screen popped open announcing yet another long wait for them before they could access the information. Kate wondered how much information Evan had compiled as it was taking an incredibly long time to open.

"How's it going over here?" Mike asked, Kate looked over her shoulder to find him towering over her.

"Alright, decompression is complete and it's decrypting the files" Kate informed him. Mike placed his hands on the back of her chair and leaned down so his lips were near her ear.

"Do you have to be in here watching it decompress?" Mike asked her in a low voice, Kate took a deep breath enjoying the clean scent of his skin before she leaned to the side slightly and turned her head to look at him.

"No" she informed him being completely honest as far as she was concerned she didn't even have to be on the ship but then she had given Tom everything of worth. She was now superfluous to their mission so if he was handing her a chance to stay. She'd stay especially given the offer Mike had given her.

"Good, I want you go up top and get the Helo on standby" Mike informed her, Kate could have kissed him for just allowing her to escape the CIC but refrained as she knew it would be inappropriate.

"Sure thing" Kate told him.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

* * *

An hour later,

"This does not feel right" Mike said to Lt Green as they watched the screens and listened to the comms as the two teams were searching the 'Octopus' for the lone survivor. He had a bad gut feeling that everything was going to go pear shape as they hadn't located Bertrise. If the girl even existed. It was a fishing boat not a cruise liner, how long did it take to find one girl?

He folded his arms impatiently as he stared at the screens. He knew the Helo would be in it's final stages of flight prep, he just hoped that he wouldn't have to send it up as the Helo would make it easier for the Russians to track down their location.

* * *

"You take the lead today" Kate told Grodin after she finished walking around the Helo checking the exterior. She sat into her cockpit seat and began to strap herself in.

"Seriously?" Grodin asked surprised she would give him the chance to fly. Kate nodded as Lang handed her a clipboard.

"Yeah, you bitch about wanting more hours. Here they are and our call sign for the day is 'Sabre Hawk'." Kate said dryly, as she read the clipboard. She had to refrain from rolling her eyes as the name made them sound like a reject transformer character. "but know this, if you disobey orders I will kill you without hesitation. We clear?" She asked as she handed him the clipboard for him to start preflight checklist.

"Crystal" he replied in a dry manner as he took the clipboard from her but judging by the smile on his lips he didn't take her seriously or he thought being 'Sabre Hawk' was 'cool' call signs. Kate didn't bother thinking too deeply on the subject as she pulled her helmet on and checked her comms and the panels in front of her triple checking they were all operating within normal parameters.

_"Tower, this is Sabre hawk one. We re finalising pre flight check list" _Grodin said_. _Kate rolled her eyes at the name as it really did make them sound like some reject 80's transformer character especially when Grodin said it with such glee.

* * *

Mike wished he could pace the room but held his place as the CIC is too small of a room to pace in and also because he knew such behaviour would make the crew uneasy. He was a leader and so he had to project a certain image to the crew at all times so they did not lose faith in his abilities or in the task at hand as most situations like this one; it always felt like he was stacking cards where if one card fell the whole house would fall with it.

_"Captain, we have company"_ Lt Burke's voice said over the comms and Mike's gut instinct proven right. Something he wished hadn't happened as he wanted to have one mission go smoothly. But sadly it wasn't going to happen that way and the hardest part of this mission was that the Nathan James was completely blind and had to rely on the two boarding parties to keep them updated. Mike looked Barker.

"From Where, What direction? You got something?" Mike asked him, anxious to know if they could offer any assistance to the Captain and the others.

"Negative Sir." Barker told him, Mike silently cursed as picked up the phone receiver and typed in the number for the flight deck tower. They needed eyes out there and the Helo was the only option they had that was readily available as he hadn't had any UVA drones prepped.

"Tower, CIC I want that bird in the air now" Mike ordered over the phone.

* * *

_"Sabre hawk One are you good to go?"_ Tower asked over the comm.

"Tower, ETA prep to go about 5 mikes. Just have to unhook the fuelling pump" Grodin responded as they were sitting in the cockpit waiting on standby. It looked like they were going to be given orders or so Kate sensed as they hadn't been prompted on how long prep would take in the past.

_"Copy that, Please be advised..."_ Tower continued, Kate looked to Grodin and then over her shoulder at Lang as they listened over comms as Tower informed them of the current situation they were going to fly into as soon as they finished re-fuelling. Their current orders were to fly out and locate the ship named 'Octopus' and retrieve the girl at all costs as the Russians were in hot pursuit of their teams. The two teams off the ship were secondary objective.

_"Good to go"_ Lang announced on the comm. as he had been watching the refuel and taking his cues from the flight deck crew. He was obviously given the thumbs up as flight deck crew moved off to the sides.

"Ok let's go" Kate told Grodin over the comm. The lieutenant smiled as he communicated with Tower and began to pull on the stick pulling the Helo off the deck of the Nathan James.

* * *

Mike listened to the radio chatter from the two teams off board. They had found the girl and were getting off the ship but the Russians were closing in. The sounds of gun fire came over the speakers and Mike felt the last of his patience snap. He moved to the phone receiver and called the Tower.

"Where's my bird? tell me she is in the air" Mike demanded on the phone as he looked at the screens in the CIC. He didn't know why he did as it wasn't like the screen had changed in the past hour. But a small part of hoped it would just so he could ground the Helo. It wasn't armed with weapons and with fuel for the Helo being finite he didn't want to waste it and have the Helo destroyed by the Russians.

_"Clearing the deck of the Nathan James and is enroute_" Tower responded.

* * *

A few minutes after taking off from the Nathan James and heading in the direction of the Octopus, Kate looked up from her panels to Grodin.

"You off course, you need to adjust" Kate told Grodin, she hated backseat piloting but she hated fuel wastage even more especially given they didn't have more than a day and half worth of fuel to burn.

"I'm on course" Grodin told her, the smile had disappeared when the Nathan James fed them sketchy intelligence on what was happening. They knew the Russians were engaged in action with the Nathan James crew but they had no clue where the Vyerni is or if their Helo was flying around. They had the advantage of being armed with rail guns something the Nathan James' Helo lacked. But it stressed Grodin out enough that the kid was looking everywhere but where he was going.

"Relax, there's nothing for miles" Kate told him, which was true all that was ahead of them was vast ocean.

"I'm relaxed" Grodin told her through gritted teeth.

"If you want to me to take over-" Kate started to offer but Grodin cut her off.

"No, I fine" he told her.

"Ok" Kate told him before she went back to paying attention to her job as co-pilot.

* * *

"The girl's boat is approximately here."Gator flashed a red laser pointer onto a large map with two dots on it. One green and the other red. He circled the red dot as he referenced it to be the Octopus. "Assuming the Russians were coming from Cuba where we left them, their ship should be somewhere in this region" Gater flashed the laser pointed in a large patch of ocean indicating where he believed the Vyerni was "And their attack boats were broadcasting from here."

Mike heard the door to CIC open and he turned around to see Tophet come into the room with two armed guards. Just as Mike ordered when they started picking up Russian radio chatter. It had been fifteen minutes since they lost communication with the two teams off the ship and the Helo was barely halfway to the ship to even give them anything useful.

"What am I doing here?" Tophet asked Mike.

"Your Russian pals are back." Mike said as he walked up to the man.  
"Are you sure? What have they said?" Tophet asked him.

"I don't know what they said. I don't speak Russian, that's why you're here." Mike said as he grabbed the man by the arm and dragged him over to the empty station next to Mason and sat the man down "You're gonna sit down next to Mason. just listen. If you pick up anything on the U.H.F., you translate." Mike picked up a headset and held it out to Tophet. The man took the headset and looked down at them as Mike moved to stand behind him as he spoke again.

"I'm damn sure Ruskov's out there listening to us. You'll tell me later what this is gonna cost me." Mike finished folding his arms and looking down at the man with unveiled disgust because as far as Mike was concerned the man was a traitor and a sell out.

"I'll do what you ask. " Tophet turned in his chair and looked up at him "When this is over, you make sure Ruskov dies." Tophet told him.

Mike didn't think that would be a hard task as he watched the man turned in his chair and listened to the radio chatter for a moment before he moved back to the large screen he and Lietenant Green had been looking at. As they needed to formulate a rescue plan and get everyone back to ship alive and in one piece.

* * *

Some time later,

"We are two-zero miles at last known point of contact_"_ Kate announced on the radio giving Grodin the mental space he needed to focus on flying the helo. He was doing alright in her opinion but he did need to lighten up. There was no sign of any Russians in the area and they had been receiving Russian radio chatter on their line but it seemed to be a bad connection as it cut in and out leaving just random words and annoying static.

The Nathan James was taking care of it as Kate switched them to a new comm channel just so she didn't have to translate everything for Grodin who had grumbled something about a missile attack. It made her wish they weren't in the Helo as she would have smacked him upside the head for being so melodramatic as he seemed to believe that they were somehow 'special' when really they were a waste of time to kill as they would more likely use the Helo to track down the Nathan James but she couldn't be bothered telling him so she kept her mouth shut.

_"We have contact with a vessel at 11 o'clock half mile bearing 050"_ Lang said over the comm, Kate leered her head to the right and just saw the white tail of water extending from a small black dot presumably the boat streaking across the water. They were a little too high for her to make out anything more than that but relief washed through her as it was good news.

_"Sabre Hawk One, this is Cobra two. How copy over?" _Burk's voice said over the waves.

"Solid Copy, Cobra Two" Kate replied as Grodin was focused entirely on flying and looking for the Russians. Just like with learning to drive, the more hours one had under their belt the easier it became for them to relax and be able to do more than drive or in this case fly in a certain direction.

_"We have the package enroute home base"_ Burk responded.

"Account for personnel Cobra two" Kate ordered over the comm. She hadn't seen the second boat but that didn't mean they weren't somewhere nearby.

_"Besides the package. Seven souls; Burk, Cruz, Cossetti, Jeter, Dennison, Rowler, Walker"_ Burk informed her. Her stomach twisted in unease as Tex's name wasn't mentioned.

"Do you have a derogative whisky for Cobra one?" she asked them. Quietly hoping they had an answer.

_"We do not know their whisky. Repeat we do not know their whisky. Be advised two Russian zodiacs in proximity to the Octopus"_ Burk told her. She blew out her breath as it wasn't good news. She could only imagine how Mike was taking the news but pushed away her concern and focussed on the task at hand.

"Solid Copy" Kate replied to Burk before she looked to Grodin, the man talked into the comm informing the ship of their course change and ETA to their destination as he manoeuvred the Helo in the direction of the Octopus.

* * *

3 minutes later they were flying over the Octopus, it was a decrepit looking fisher boat.

"…Nathan James we have negative beacon contact from this vessel" Kate informed the ship, knowing everyone in the CIC was listening. It was disheartening as there was nothing to follow. If only this were an episode of the Muppets because then there would have been a comical arrow pointing directions to Captain and Tex.

_"Nathan James this is cobra one"_ Tom's voice said over the comm. Kate's ears perked up as it meant he was alive and that Tex had to be too or so she hoped. "_Cease and desist all rescue operations. I say again cease and desist any rescue operations. That's a direct order. Ride off into the sunset with that package. It's been my sincere honour serving with you all. This will be my final transmission_" Tom said over the comm line. Kate frowned as she wondered why Tom had given that order instead of signalling for help. There was no Russians within visual range and given that they could see clearly in all directions for miles and there was nothing on the radar. It had to be safe.

_"Sabre Hawk standby for new orders"_ The person who was their comms tech for the day on the Nathan James said.

"Copy that" Grodin replied before he looked to Kate "Should we do a sweep?" he asked her.

"We're wasting fuel by just hovering here. So go ahead practise some manoeuvres, just keep your eyes sharp. The Russians would have heard that, so we can assume they'll start searching for the Captain" Kate told him.

* * *

"But you heard the Captain's orders Sir." Barker said to Mike as they stood in the corner of the CIC talking in low voices trying to suss out the best plan of attack given that Tom had told them to leave him behind. Something that did not sit well with Mike as they were told never to leave a comrade behind.

"What if it was a misdirect for the Russians, in case they were listening" Mike said, he knew Major Barker was a straight shooter and would play devil's advocate.

"I don't think so" Barker disputed. "Ride off into the sunset is what he said. We found the girl and now he wants us to move forward" he told Mike, the bad thing about the situation was if it wasn't Tom, their Captain; the leader who had been keeping the ship together and instilling hope the crew whenever the situation became dire. Then Mike wouldn't hesitate in sailing off into the sunset but they needed Tom, Mike was knew he could not hold the crew together with the same skill as Tom nor did he want to lose his best friend.

"We can't know that for sure" Mike said, he figured if he could come up with a valid argument to continue the search then they'd continue but if not then he'd follow Tom's last wishes.

"But you know him and you know he's right" Barker said,

"And I know he wouldn't leave any of us behind" Mike told Barker.

"Under normal circumstances; yes. But things are different now" Barker said, Mike took a moment not wanting to see reason. But before he could think of a comeback Lt Green piped up catching his attention.

"Commander, Lassiter is getting impatient for their orders" he said, Mike turned his attention to the comm. line listening as Kate reminded CIC that they were running on a limited supply of fuel.

"I'm not giving up on the Captain and Tex. Tell them to continue their search" Mike told Barker ending their discussion. _Screw common sense..._ he thought as he moved back to the screens. He could feel the disapproval roll of Barker but the man was not in charge. Mike was and he was not leaving Tom or Tex out to die in the ocean when there was a chance to save them.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

_Sabre Hawk One say fuel"_

"Currently at 40%" Kate said reading the panel. "Nathan James be advised we're also conducting IR sensor scans per sector" Kate added, she couldn't help feeling disheartened as every minute passed slowly and they found no sign of Tex or the Captain. She could only imagine how crew morale was like on the ship. She didn't want to think about Tom or Tex out in the ocean as it lead to her thinking of worst case scenario of finding them dead. Tom; she wouldn't grieve but then they weren't friends but Tex; he was the last person from her old life besides Mike that she had history with. Platonically speaking of course and she wasn't ready to lose him.

"This is waste of time and resources" Grodin said bored as flying circles was about as exciting as contemplating one's naval hair.

"If it was your ass in the water it would definitely be a waste of resources. Trust me, we'd be sailing off into the sunset without you" Kate told him in a matter of fact tone.

"I'm really feeling the love over here" Grodin replied sarcastically.

"I'd have a beer in your honour" Kate told him with a wry smile as she didn't want to think too deeply about what they were doing and what would happen if they failed to locate the Captain and Tex.

"You're such a bitch" Grodin told her before he chuckled.

"It's part of my charm" Kate quipped before she reported in that they finished yet another sector in their search with no results back to the ship.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

Mike still stood in CIC, staring at the large screen on the wall with a map of the current search around the Octopus for the Captain and Tex. So far they had found nothing and Russian chatter that was being blasted sporadically on radio was a misdirect. He also knew it was a race between the them on who'd find the Captain and Tex first. He hoped they got to the men first but the search was painfully slow going.

"_Negative contact_" Lang's voice said over the speakers.

_"Eagle Tower this is Sabre Hawk One. Dusk. Visibility dropping with the sun"_ Grodin said over comm. Mike looked at the clock on the wall noting that the Helo would have to return soon to refuel.

* * *

A few hours later,

Grodin landed the Helo in an ungraceful smack into the flight deck but in his defence he had probably miscalculated the the movement of the ship and wind speed as the ocean was slightly choppy. Frankly she wasn't going to comment as she needed to go to the bathroom and a drink of water. if she still smoked she would have added cigarette to the list but right now she happily live with the use of bathroom facilities and a drink. she'd let the flight deck crew chew him out for putting dents in the flight deck.

"Ok, I'm taking a bathroom break" Kate said as she unstrapped herself.

"But-" Grodin started to say but she cut him off.

"Dude, we're at bingo. Refuelling takes more than ten minutes. You did good, now babysit the bird and keep the engines warm. I'll be right back." Kate told him as she pulled off her helmet and then pulled herself out of her chair. She barely stepped off the helo when Lang shouted at her.

"Lassiter!" he yelled over the sound of the Helo engine and the whoop whoop noise of the rotor blades as they sliced through the air.

"Yeah?" Kate shouted back.

"Commander wants you in CIC. ASAP" Lang told her.

"Can it wait like 2 minutes?" Kate asked him.

"No" Lang said with a smile.

"Tell him I'm on my way" Kate said before she took off at a sprint.

* * *

"Lassiter what took you so long?" Burk asked her as he held the door open to the CIC. Kate was out of breath from running from the bathroom she stood at to answer nature's call to CIC. She couldn't imagine whatever she was going to walk into in the CIC would be time sensitive.

"I went for the scenic route. I still have 5 minutes before the Helo will be ready to go up again. Want to talk about my reasons or just cut to the chase as to why I'm here?" Kate asked as she caught her breath. Burk gestured his head motioning for her to go first. She walked into the CIC and Burk closed the door behind them. He went straight to Mike's side and spoke to him in a low voice. Kate looked around and spotted Tophet on a station with headset on listening intently to something. _Most probably the Russians..._ she thought before she turned her attention to Mike. Burk must have finished passing on his message as he stepped back and Mike turned his head in her direction.

"Lassiter, I want your opinion" Mike said, he motioned her over to where he stood which was in front of a large aerial map. "We think the Captain and Tex might be heading for the reef"

"And you want us to do a fly over" Kate said stating the obvious, she wished the CIC was a little bigger as she was feeling a little self conscious standing in her sweaty flight suit, knowing full well she didn't smell anything remotely like a rose garden.

"Yes but we've got a bad feeling the Russians are nearby" Mike told her.

"How high a probability?" Kate asked looking at the map.

"60%" Major Barker replied.

"the Russians are talking." Tophet said interrupting their small meeting "They're still searching the water." Tophet said as he listened and translated "He thinks the Americans have drowned." Tophet added. Kate reared back at the news.  
"He thinks? What exactly did he say?" Mike demanded.

"Shh, shh." Tophet said as he was trying to listen to what was being said.

"Do they have the bodies?" Kate asked.

"I don't know. The radio keeps cutting in and out. I missed some of the words." Tophet told them.

"Well, what words did you get?" Mike asked darkly.

"They said 'drowned'." Tophet said.

"I swear to God, if you're lying to me, I will strap you to a torpedo." Mike threatened him.

"It's what I heard." Tophet told him firmly.

"Sir, the Helo is refuelled" Lt Foster informed him. Mike turned his attention to the room and saw all eyes were on him and the next move he made would set the tone for his future leadership.

"We can't trust anything we hear. The Russians know we're listening. They could be deliberately feeding us bad intel." Mike told them, he needed them to have faith in him and he would not leave Captain and Tex to the Russians not whilst there was a chance to save them or worst case recover their remains.

"Sir, if you mean to do this, then I recommend we have a Helo fly low zigzag to make it harder for someone to track it." Major Barker suggested, Kate gave the man a dark look as he was correct but Kate hated the idea of using up all their fuel when they hadn't encountered any Russian patrol boats or Helos in the hours they had been up in the air.

"That'll burn a lot of fuel, sir." Burk said.

"No, it'll probably burn all of fuel we got" Kate corrected Burk.

"Yes, it will." Barker conceded. "But it means we've got enough time to make one short pass." he added.

"I concur. Head for that reef." Mike told Kate in a firm tone that brokered no arguments. She wanted to argue with him that it wasn't the right move but at the end of the day arguing with Mike would do nothing for either of them as he was in charge and she had to follow his rules.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

_"All stations report all instruments on altitude 100ft, on air speed 90 knots, negative contact" _Grodin relayed to the Nathan James knowing full well nearly everyone was crowding the CIC and any room with speakers to the Comm listening to the updates.

_"Roger, visibility nil" _Lang said as he looked out the side window in the dark.

"Wait, you see that?" Kate asked Grodin as she saw something flicker on the screen. She wondered if maybe she had hallucinated it as the screens seemed to be playing up a little with static and they had been flying for a long time.

"What?" Grodin asked her.

"Do a swing round to left and pass over sector" Kate rattled off the designation of screen quadrant where she had seen the anomaly. Grodin did as she asked and a few minutes when they passed over it again, Kate pointed to it.

"There" Kate said feeling a bubble of hope fill her chest as it was the first time they had picked up anything on their sensors besides marine life and birds.

"I see it, and moving in" he said as he manoeuvred the Helo closer to the possible sighting.

"_This is Sabre Hawk one we see something reflecting on the surface to the south west taking a closer look over. dropping down to 90 ft"_ Grodin informed the Nathan James and Lang.

_"Roger right side light shot_" Lang said coordinating with Grodin. "_In sight, engaging automatic approach standby to lower the harness_" he added.

"_Roger_" Grodin acknowledging her.

"hold her steady Grodin" Kate told him as the Helo was rocking slightly from side to side. She didn't need the harness whipping the Captain or Tex in the face if it was them down there. She leaned forward and squinted as she looked more closely at the screen at the image.

"It's not them" Kate said as the closer they got it the more definitive the image become. It was debris with a bloated corpse wearing a white t-shirt and dark clothing.

"What? How can you tell?" Grodin asked her.

"Neither of them were wearing white clothing and I think that's boat debris. Call it in, we got nothing" Kate told him as there was no way she was going to call it in.

_"Nathan James, no sign of survivors. I repeat, no survivors"_ Grodin announced to the Ship. Kate sat back in her chair and gave a heady exhale as it was going to be a long night.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

* * *

The Next Morning,

"Helo's crisscrossed hundred square miles of ocean and no sign of them" Mike said as he and Jeter walked onto the bridge after watching the Helo sail over them to the flight deck at the back of the ship from one of Bridge's lookouts. It had been a long and sadly unrewarding night for them all. They walked over to front window on his side of the bridge and looked out to the Horizon. They needed to get Tom back as the Nathan James and this mission was his, not Mike's and he knew he would only foul it up because he didn't have the same faith as Tom or Jeter did.

"I don't know what I'm hoping for whether they're still somewhere out there fighting for their lives or the Russians did get them." Jeter said as he like Mike was not ready to give up but there was a point where they would have to call it and continue the mission without the Captain.

Something Mike wasn't ready to do just yet. Besides Mike's qualms with taking over as Captain of the Nathan James, he didn't want to lose one of his oldest friends. So he was going to hold steadfast to the rule of 'no one gets left behind' until it jeopardised the Nathan James' ability to continue on. When they reached that stage then they would reassess the situation and make the final decision.

"Any sign of the Vyerni?" Mike asked Lt Granderson, hoping maybe the UAVs picked up something in their travels. The Lieutenant looked up from her station and shook her head.

"Sir, nothing on the SQL 32. Zero electronic emissions they're most likely radio silent" Granderson informed him.

"Maybe but they're close" Mike surmised, his gut told him that the Russians had to have picked up Tex and Captain before them as they had been searching for hours without even a clue of where they were.

"How do you know?" Jeter asked him.

"Because if they have the CO; they're going to call and try to make a trade. Tex and the CO for Dr Scott and her work" Mike said, it was a call he had been waiting for ever since this whole mess spiralled out of control. But then he knew the Russians would call if Tom was dead or alive just to try and trick them into a deal. It was inevitable and he was prepared to call their bluff.

* * *

"Rachel, how's it going?" Kate asked as she had just finished packing the Helo up for good. She dropped by the Lab in Helo bay 1 to see what was happening with the girl they had found and if they had at least some success. She needed some good news before she collapsed in a heap and call it a day. Though there was a shower and food before the collapsing part. She had already stripped off the top half of her flight suit and had it tied around her hips. Her tank top stuck to her body damp with sweat only reminding her how dire her need for a shower was.

"Well the Monkey is still alive which is a good sign" Rachel said dryly as she turned around on her stool in front of her computers to look to Kate. It was obvious that Rachel did not want to install a sense of hope about the vaccine prototype being built so quickly. Something Kate didn't blame her for not wanting to do.

"So the girl is immune to all of the strains?" Kate asked moving over to the plastic shell that kept the lab sealed up. She looked at the lone monkey in one of the cages. It looked healthy but it could be deceptive.

"Appears so yes" Rachel said watching Kate carefully.

"I saw Mason with the girl" Kate said turning to face Rachel, a smile on her face as remembered Mason's red cheeked face as he escorted the girl from the Jamaican fishing boat to the wardroom.

"Yes, Bertrise is having breakfast with Ensign Mason" Rachel said not so subtly informing Kate of Bertrise's name so Kate wouldn't call her 'the girl'.

"You have breakfast yet?" Kate asked her.

"Not yet, I still have work to do. So there is still no sign of the Captain or Tex?" Rachel asked her, Kate took a deep breath and shook her head. Rachel couldn't help but commiserate with Kate as she too felt the deep concern and fears for the Captain and Tex but Rachel also a sense of responsibility for what happened. She had practically demanded they go pick up Bertrise and now they were either captured by the Russians or dead.

"None and the Helo is running on fumes. So we're not making any more trips out. Hopefully the UAV's will find something to go on" Kate said she gave a sigh and rubbed her face with her hands as if to wipe away the fatigue but it only made her feel more exhausted.

"You should get some rest" Rachel told her.

"I will after I have a good scrub down and a hot meal" Kate said as she wished someone else would just do it all for her to save herself from exerting the energy. "Shower is definitely coming first. So want to join me later for breakfast?" Kate asked. Rachel shook her head.

"Thank you for the offer but I want to stay here" Rachel said, Kate gave a nod and walked over to the door but just as she reached the door she stopped and turned around.

"Hey do you have any results on my blood work yet?" Kate asked her. Rachel shook her head, immediately feeling guilty as she wanted to talk to Kate about her results but decided that it could wait because frankly the results Rachel had gotten only given her more questions than the answers she knew Kate wanted.

"Not yet" Rachel lied "But I would like anything you can give me from the Data packet" she informed Kate.

"I'll see what I can find and make sure it's sent your way." Kate told her and with that she turned and left the room.

* * *

"Sir, Admiral Ruskov is on the HF" Granderson informed Mike who had been perched in his chair just waiting. He immediately got up from his chair and moved over to where Lt Granderson was and took the radio receiver from the wall and clicked the side activating it.

"This is Commander Slattery" he said, he waited listening to static for a moment before Ruskov's voice drawled over the speakers in the bridge. It was the call he had been waiting and dreading simultaneously ever since the Helo landed. He had reports that the UAVs were still turning up nothing and Grodin had reported in to say the Helo was all packed up.

Mike would have preferred Kate to report to him but understood that she was wrecked not just physically but emotionally. He didn't understand the relationship between her and Tex, he knew Tex was her husband's friend and they both worked for the same company. That the two of them acted like friends but there was a gap between when he walked away and she came on the Nathan James that he knew nothing about.

_"Commander, I won't waste time obviously I want a trade two for two. I want Dr Rachel Scott and Mrs Kathryn Lassiter with them all relevant virus samples, work and Mrs Lassiter's electronic devices. Anything short of that will result in the death of your Captain and his companion."_ Ruskov told him, Mike frowned as he was surprised that Ruskov wanted Kate.

Though given the information that was in the Data packet they downloaded it was clear what Ruskov wanted Kate for. But how Ruskov knew Kate's first name and of course how he even knew Kate's access to whatever remained of Lassiter Industries irked him.

He paused for a long time, giving CIC time to track the call and also make Ruskov believe he truly had the upper hand but also because he wasn't entirely sure what to say.

_"Are you still there XO? Course you are, you just don't know what to say. I understand you've never been in command before"_ Ruskov drawled in a patronising manner. Mike waited a few more seconds drawing it out for CIC to track the comm. position before he spoke.

"I need proof of life. Let me talk to my commanding officer" Mike told him calling the Russians bluff. Now was the defining moment. If Ruskov produced proof of life then it would open a whole new bag of problems but it would also be a relief as it gave those on the Nathan James a chance to save Tom and Tex. The only downside was that part of that deal meant putting Kate in a potentially dangerous situation with no guarantees that Mike would get her or Tom back.

"_I'm here XO_" Tom's voice said over the speakers in a dark tone. Mike looked around and saw the relief on the crew members face change into exhaustion because the search was over but now the fight was real.

"You have 10 minutes to decide" Ruskov informed Mike.

"What guarantees can you give me?" Mike asked him.

"Just one that if you don't comply with my demands I will not only torture and kill your friends I annihilate your ship and every soul on board. I possess enough nuclear warheads to boil the seas in which you pathetically sail. Ten minutes" Ruskov said and then the line went dead. Mike looked around at the all the people watching him as they waited for his next move. Mike placed the radio receiver back into it's holder and picked up the phone receiver off the dash and dialled the number for CIC.

"Combat this is XO, tell me you got a bearing on that call" Mike demanded.

* * *

"Ma'am" Lt Foster said looking surprised as Kate walked into the CIC. In fact everyone in the room was busying themselves in such a manner that it looked like they were looking for an excuse not to look at her. _Paranoid much..._ Kate thought to herself as she really needed to remember that she wasn't important enough to centre of the universe and a good night's sleep would even out her ego. It made her wondered what she had missed between her shower and breakfast.

"Lieutenant, I'm here to look through the data packet" Kate said, the lieutenant nodded slowly as Kate pulled up a chair and sat by her station. Kate lifted the iphone that was still plugged into CIC systems. It seemed to had downloaded a copy of the information pulled from the data packet. It didn't really surprise her as it complied a list of the files for her to peruse.

"Everything ok?" Kate asked Foster as the woman looked at her with a mix of fear and pity.

"Sure, yes" Foster said a little too quickly.

"You have a lousy poker face" Kate told her with a smile as she knew better than to ask what was on the Lieutenant's mind. "There's quite a lot of crap in here" Kate said changing the topic as she referred to the information. about 80% of it was in another language. Kate could only imagine what Tom's displeasure would be at that news. That's if the man was alive.

"Yes, Ma'am" Foster replied in a non committal manner, the door to the CIC swung open and Mike walked into the room with Jeter, Burk and Green behind him all of them talking about something whatever it was they stopped when they saw her.

"Lassiter" Mike said in greeting.

"Commander" She replied in polite tone, The odd undercurrent that had been playing in the room earlier became more pronounced "Ok, what is it? Do I smell? because I showered and brushed my teeth. Also wearing fresh clothes, so why are you all being weird?" Kate asked.

"Your personal hygiene isn't nor ever has it been in question. The Russians have the Captain and Tex" Mike told her.

"Oh, ok" Kate said unsure as to why they all were acting weird.

"He wants to trade them for Dr Scott and her research and for you and your technology. I assume he meant your iphone and laptop" Mike informed her.

Kate looked away for a moment, trying to assess the situation, trying to figure out why her but then she remembered her phone had copy of the data packet's information and she had access codes that acted like a skeleton key to access any satellite that was still in orbit. Not too mention any research facilities and warehouses that might still be intact and operational.

"That's going to be problematic" Kate told him in a slow and careful manner, she didn't know why but she felt herself getting angry at how unfair the situation was and the fact that they all acted like it was completely fine to leave her out of the loop. Worse yet expect her to just trade herself over to their enemy without even asking her. It was truly the little considerations that pissed her off.

"Handing me over will be the easy part. You don't need me on the ship but you do require my tech and access codes to allow you to utilise the information Evan has provided you. Access codes; I write down but what's on this phone and my laptop can't be replicated" Kate told Mike.

She technically half lied as she wasn't a computer genius. She had no idea if it could be replicated but knowing Evan and how he'd turned her world into a freaking spy novel told her it would be difficult and not worth was already resigned to the fact that she would be traded for Tom. The ship needed its Captain more than it needed her. She tried to not take it personally as Mike was thinking for the ship and its crew but it hurt as no one was arguing about her safety or that they should consider an alternative plan where she didn't become a prisoner.

"None of this is going to easy" Mike told her in a firm tone. Kate's eyes snapped up at meet his as she expected him to play the pragmatic soldier but she could see he was angry, conflicted and in as much pain as she was. It was a small comfort but yet for some reason not enough.

"Well what choice do we have? You all need Captain and Tex more than you need a helo pilot" Kate said with a shrug, Mike narrowed his eyes at her as he really wanted to contradict her but knew she was just putting up a façade. She locked eyes with him for just a moment he saw the pain in her eyes before she casually picked up her phone and started scrolling the screen. She needed it to be a distraction so she wouldn't do anything stupid.

"How much time do you have before you agree to their terms?" she asked.

"7 minutes" Mike told her.

"Sir, couldn't we negotiate Lassiter for Tex? and then-" Green started but Mike cut him off.

"Then what? put a tracker on Lassiter get a bearing on the Vyerni and attempt a rescue? Ruskov would expect that and retaliate" Mike told him.

"Anyway Ruskov needs Dr Scott more than he needs Lassiter" Burk added.

"Gee thanks for making me feel like chopped liver" Kate said sarcastically.

"No offence Ma'am but why would the Russians care about you? You have nothing of value to offer" Lt Green said, Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself as she was about half a second away from kicking the man in the groin. Instead of kicking Lt Green, she pushed Lt Foster away from her computer and quickly sifted through the information and within a few seconds had taken over the large CIC screen and three smaller ones.

The largest screen was a map of the world, it was covered in several green and red dots scattered across many locations across the continents and some off the coastline and a couple of green dots in the middle of the ocean. On the two smaller screens were the Vyerni's ship schematics.

"That is what I have to offer." Kate gestured to the screens before referring to the larger screen she had hijacked "Green dots are facilities that are still fully functioning, Red not functioning. These are labs, factories, supply stations. You'll also note on the other two screens behind you that those are the schematics for the Vyerni. This is just a small taste of the many things that Ruskov wants from me. Oh and the fun fact about it all" Kate said, she pulled the USB connection cord from the CIC station disconnecting the iphone. The screens blacked out for a second and returned to their previous programs. "You need my tech, you need the access codes I possess to get a full access pass. So please waste some more time arguing over who is more important than the other. I'll just sit here and wait until you tell me to pack my bags" Kate said before she retook her seat. She kept her head down not wanting to talk or make eye contact with anyone. No wonder she got all the odd looks, she was a dead woman walking to them.

She reconnected the phone and brought up the Vyerni's ship schematics and made sure they displayed on the station closest to Mike because she knew he would ask but she didn't want him to. The arguments continued but she blocked them out fuming as she scrolled through the files on her phone to distract herself more than anything. She knew any further input on her behalf would be a waste of time as she had no experience or knowledge on how to infiltrate a ship let alone know it's weak spots.

She selected multiple files for Rachel wondering why she was bothering but then she knew. If there was a rescue mission she'd be low on the priority list to be rescued but Rachel would need all the information she could get as she'd be first on the escape boat. It just burned that Kate that she was always on her own as no one made noise about rescuing her or arguing for her to stay.

"Sir, we could break 'em out, soft-kill the engines, and haul ass to the extract point at the back of the Vyerni." Lt Green said Mike looked at Kate his arms folded as he didn't want to give her over to Ruskov but what other choice did they have? The cold harsh reality was they needed Tom and Dr Scott more than needed her and Tex. Didn't stop from it burning him, the anger that he was just repeating history with Kate. How was she supposed to believe anything he said when he was contradicting himself.

"That ship's twice our size" Mike stated, he didn't want to know how Evan Lassiter got his hands on the information but was glad for it. Even if he didn't want to get his hopes up on the slightest chance that they could rescue everyone and immobilise the Vyerni. "If the alarms sound while you're going door-to-door looking for the C.O. , it's gonna be four of you against 300 angry Russians." Mike told Green.

"It's doable, sir." Green said adamantly. Kate made a derisive noise from where she was sitting and Mike didn't blame her as Lt Green was very confident for a man who nearly died from Dengue fever.

"Who's team leader? You?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"I wouldn't volunteer unless I were fit, sir." Green told him adamantly.  
"Even at 80%, he's good to go, sir." Burk said backing Green up. Mike opened his mouth to argue when the door to the CIC opened and Rachel raced in. He lifted his hand and pointed at Rachel to silence her as he did not have the time.

"Honestly, Doctor, now is not the time. The Russians are calling back in less than five." Mike told Rachel.

"I have the vaccine!" Rachel declared between heavy breaths. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing even Kate looked up from her phone and looked to Rachel "The monkey survived. The last damn monkey." Rachel said a cynical smile on her lips. Mike moved to her slowly as he processed the information Rachel was giving him.

"Are you saying you have the vaccine? A vaccine that works?" Mike asked her in a careful tone because he didn't want Rachel to get his or the crew's hopes up with grandiose statements only to retract them later. She was looking a little too wild for him not to question her success.

"Well, in an ideal world, I'd do more testing, but Yes." Rachel said her face glowing from the success, her breathing was still scattered as she could barely stand still to allow the moment to sink in "Which means Ruskov doesn't need me anymore. You can send him a dose in exchange for Tex and the Captain." she added.

"Ruskov won't just take your word for it. He'll want to make sure." Foster said, looks were exchanged around the room as it was true. Mike could just feel the anger silently roll off of Kate who remained in her chair looking at her damn phone. He knew it wasn't easy for her to listen to the crew argue for Rachel to stay and he didn't blame her for feeling angry and resentful.

"Well then I'll show him myself. I'm no longer essential on this ship. From here on in, it's merely a case of mass-producing the vaccine from my original formula." Rachel argued.

"But, Doctor-" Burk started except Rachel cut him off before he could argue with her.

"I can show Doc Rios everything he needs to know. And if extra help is required, I'm sure you can strike a bargain with Quincy." Rachel argued, she was desperate to help save the Captain and Tex. Mike understood how she felt as it was a feeling they all shared.

"I can't let you go." Mike said in a firm tone. He wasn't ready to take her word on having a workable vaccine. There were too many unknowns and he wasn't ready to hand Rachel over until the vaccine proved to a success otherwise handing her over to Ruskov would destroy their mission. He also knew without a viable rescue plan his decision could ultimately lose everything the crew had been working hard for, what they had sacrificed for. It wasn't fair.

"Ruskov asked for me and I won't do a thing for him until he releases Tex and the Captain." Rachel told them.

"Ma'am, you don't realize what you're signing up for. You would be Ruskov's slave for life, or until he decides to kill you." Lt Green told Rachel.

Kate looked down at the iphone screen, tears biting the back of her eyes as a mixture of jealousy and disappointment filled her. Not one person had argued for her to be kept on the ship. Except Mike but he hadn't openly argued with her that she would stay. No, he just said it wouldn't be easy letting her go.

It was then she caught her name in the long list of information. She tapped the screen and the file opened, she had to enlarge the image but after a few seconds of scanning it she realised it was her medical file. But it was far more comprehensive than she thought as she slowly read it her eyes went wide.

"Look, we all know he'll chase us to the ends of the Earth. This is the only way to stop him once and for all" Rachel told the room in a grave tone, stating the obvious to them that she like everyone else was expendable.

She didn't understand most of it but she did understand that the series of flu vaccinations, medical physicals and blood tests she had received over the course of 3 years Lassiter Industries family medical care coverage were not vaccinations nor were the booster shots she had been given six months ago. Bile rose in her throat as she felt disgust at secrecy, the betrayal of Evan's duplicity. She was supposed to be family to him and he had made her into some scientist's human test subject for some kind of gene therapy.

"That fucki-" Kate stopped as she realised she had started to swear out loud. Those in the room were staring at her oddly and she wondered what she had missed but then didn't care as her anger reared up. "I'm sorry for interrupting. Please continue" Kate said in an annoyed tone not knowing who she had interrupted but not caring either way.

"Read something you don't like?" Mike asked her, he genuinely looked concerned but she couldn't tell him what it was nor could she take her phone and corner Rachel and ask her about because what was the point?

In a few hours she'd be on the Vyerni and that would be the end of her story because she wouldn't give Ruskov what he wanted and since he had a bad habit of shooting people who displeased him. She would be dead. The whole speech Mike had given her about a fresh start, being friends and building it into something more had been wasted. Sadness washed over her dulling her anger as she had really wanted to say 'yes' and see where their relationship went. She wanted to happy or somewhere close to it and now that chance was plucked away.

"Yeah but don't worry about." She closed the file and tossed the iphone on table beside her. "I'm out of here" she said as she rose from her chair and moved to the door. She needed to get out of the room and away from Mike as it was too painful to be in the same room with him and know that they would never be together.

"We haven't made any decisions" Mike said to her, Kate stopped at the door and turned around to face him.

"You got 2 minutes, we all know you have to agree to exchange. So now it's really up to Captain America and his sidekick Falcon here" Kate gestured to Green and Burk "to figure out a way to rescue the Captain and Dr Scott from the Vyerni later on because let's face it; the Russians are screw us all" Kate said and with that she left the room before anyone could contradict her.


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and waiting patiently... please continue to enjoy:-)_

* * *

**Chapter 25**

* * *

Mike hung the headset back onto the hook where it lived and looked to those in the CIC. He had just agreed to meet Ruskov's demands and it made him feel sick to his stomach.

"I shall go brief Doctor Rios about the vaccine and get ready" Rachel said breaking the silence in the room. Mike nodded and watched as Rachel left the room. The woman was ill-equipped to realise what she was signing up for but Mike had agreed to the trade. So now they would all have to see it through to the end and hope they were the victors.

He took a moment and then looked to Burk and Green who were waiting for orders.

"Green, Burk " he said addressing them directly "You think you can take on 300 angry Russians? Well you have the schematics, make a plan. You have half an hour" Mike told them before he stalked out of the CIC.

* * *

"Hey, heard you were leaving us" Grodin said as he found Kate sitting in the Helo cockpit. She should have just hidden in her quarters until time because she really didn't want to talk with Grodin about anything.

"News travels pretty fast on this ship." Kate said as she had wanted to be alone and since the Helo was out of commission she figured the place would only be used for drills which weren't for a few hours. So she had just been wasting time with her own thoughts when Grodin decided to track her down.

"It's all the excitement" Grodin said moving into his seat, Kate made a face as she really wished he'd just read her body language and piss off so she wouldn't have to tell him to do so vocally.

"I'm so glad everyone's excited for me to be leaving" Kate said dryly.

"Well, at least the maple syrup will last a little longer with you gone" Grodin remarked idly. Kate wondered if he was trying to be funny because his comment seemed rather cruel given the circumstances.

"Maybe you should go hide all the maple syrup. I still have time left to drink what maple syrup we have just to spite you" Kate told him somewhat petulant because she was not feeling the 'love' from any direction on the ship. Except for Mike but that had it's own awkward limitations and rules.

"That would be childish and you'll make yourself sick" Grodin said.

"But I'd do it and frankly I was hoping you'd be stupid enough to go toddle off and save your precious Maple Syrup stores so I could be left alone to my thoughts" Kate replied dryly.

"Why would you want to be alone?" Grodin asked her. Kate turned her head and looked at him confused.

"Are you angling for sex?" Kate asked him. Grodin's eyes went wide in shock which was somewhat amusing to Kate as he sat up straighter in his chair and shook his head.

"What? No!" Grodin exclaimed as he looked embarrassed and slightly uncomfortable by her accusation.

"That's a relief, because I'm not interested in spending my remaining time on this ship with you. So do me a favour and go away" Kate told him.

* * *

40 minutes later,

Mike had only sat down at his desk after finishing up a meeting with Green and Cossetti when a knock sounded at the door. "Come in" he said loud enough for whoever was on the other side. He had expected Jeter to come in as it was getting close to when they would have to send Kate and Rachel off to the rendezvous point to picked up by the Russians. The door opened and Mike looked over his shoulder to the door surprised as Kate stood in the doorway.

"Lassiter" he said in greeting.

"you asked to see me?" Kate asked him.

"Jeter find you?" He asked as he asked the man to inform Kate but he didn't remember asking to see Kate. Then again he wasn't going to complain at her being here. Instead, he pretended he did give the order and waved her in, she stepped into the room and then closed the door behind her.

"So how long do I have?" She asked as she walked over to the guest chair by his desk and sat down. No, more like slouched in the chair. Even though her tone had a mocking lilt he couldn't help but wondered what had upset her in the CIC.

"Excuse me?" He asked her as he didn't appreciate her phrasing as it sounded like she was casually asking how long it would be before her execution.

"How long until I leave?" Kate said restating the question in a casual tone that really rankled him even further.

"20 minutes, you and Dr Scott will be taken to a rendezvous point via a RIB and the Russians will pick up in their helo and take you back to the Vyerni. There's a plan-" he started explain when Kate cut him off.

"Don't tell me" Kate said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"You need to know it" he told her firmly as he felt his annoyance at her nonchalant manner start to grow. He'd rather she be pissed off and yelling at him, then maybe he could let off some steam by yelling back at her because this mockery of indifference only added fuel to an already tense situation.

"Why? I'm like what… Sixth on the list of mission objectives?" She argued, it then struck him that part of her resignation was that she fully expected them to leave her behind.

"First priority is that no one is left behind including you" Mike told her, he was half tempted to call her ungrateful but then he knew she wasn't being petulant. She was being pragmatic, it was how she remained calm under pressure but he hated it as he just wanted her to be irrational when they were alone.

It wasn't that he enjoyed seeing her weakness or fragility but the fact that if she showed it to him then it was a sign of her trust in him. That he could and would looked after her and give her what she needed. Even if it was incredibly complicated.

"Ruskov is going to realise that I don't have my laptop or iphone with me and when he does. He's going to be ticked off and I don't see it ending well. Just in case it doesn't it's best I don't know anything that could harm your rescue mission" Kate told him in plain tone, underneath her calm façade she was mess. She just wanted to cry at how unfair everything was and punch Mike in the face for giving her hope for a future they were never going to have. Though in fairness she'd have to punch herself as well for allowing herself to think she could be with him and ignore all the painfully obvious facts of their current situation.

"You'll only have to stall" Mike told her. Kate snapped out of her reverie at Mike's words.

"Stall how?!" Kate asked him incredulously. "This Ruskov guy sounds rather switched on and to be honest I barely remember E&E training" She scoffed as she wasn't sure how she was going to stall the Russians for a few hours until Tex and the Captain were rescued. "Which come to think about. I think I was sick the day they told us how to proceed when US Navy trades you like a Goat to the Russians for their Captain" Kate said scathingly.

"It's not like that" Mike told her in low tone.

"I get it, Ruskov wants me and this mission and ship needs Captain Chandler. It's just business" Kate said apathetically.

"It-" Mike was about to remind her of a creed that no soldier is left behind when Kate spoke over him.

"I know, it's not that simple and I'd want to save my best friend too" Kate stopped talking and looked away, he waited for the 'but' and her to tell him that he was one bad command decision from destroying the main mission which was the vaccine and saving the world.

All the things Tom spouted about, if he followed Tom's orders then the Nathan James would be sailing off to the closest functioning lab facility to test and produce the vaccine. They'd be going home in an essence but Mike had stalled it and focussed on getting Tom and Tex back. He was already paying the price for it considering he was giving up Dr Scott and Kate to the Russians. Dr Scott was needed for the mission but Kate, she was altogether a personal price Mike was paying. But she said nothing, seemingly at a loss of words as she remained quiet.

"What upset you in the CIC?" Mike asked changing the subject before Kate could have the chance to berate him or maybe she remembered him well enough to know that he already thought the ins and outs of the situation and couldn't be bothered talking to him about since he had the conversation with himself already.

"What?" Kate asked blankly.

"You were reading something on your phone before you lost your cool and acted like a teenager. So what was it?" He asked her, as he was genuinely curious to what had made her go from being rather calm and collected to dejected and hostile in the snap of a finger. Her expression became troubled as she seemed to think about her response; weighing her options before she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter" she told in a dismissive tone. Mike turned his chair slightly, sat forward and looked at her head on.

"Matters to me because you went from wanting to fight to giving up like that" He said as snapped his fingers for emphasise how quickly her attitude had changed. "I've got a vested interest in you and it requires you not to do something stupid like get killed by the Russians. So what is it?" he asked her.

"I'm not suicidal and it's none of your business" Kate told him in a biting tone. She didn't want die but frankly she knew the odds were stacked high against her. Not to mention she wasn't sure how to explain what Evan told her and what her medical files. But what made her livid was knowing that he signed off on her being a test bunny in his company's scientific studies. That Jack her husband had to have known as well and said nothing to her, in fact pushed her to go have her medical check ups and flu shots.

"I beg differ. I care about you and if there is something that affects you then it affects me. Now talk" he ordered her, Kate rose an eyebrow at him as she couldn't help a wry smile play on her lips. Mike was giving her an order to talk to him, it was absurd, touching and a little amusing.

"Wow, your people skills could use some work" She remarked dryly, Mike made a face of displeasure as she dodged answering the question.

"If I tried to talk to you like a normal person you'd mock me for trying to use my 'cop' skills on you." Mike replied in a mocking tone feelign his mood grow darker by the second.

"True" she agreed but she'd only do so to get a reaction from him. She couldn't help that she enjoyed baiting him. It was the reaction she looked forward to as it was nice to know she wasn't the only one affected by their attraction. right now she had to soak it up as it would be the last chance she'd get to goad him.

"And I'm going to find out eventually. So why don't you just tell me now" Mike said to her, Kate gave a sigh and shook her head.

"There isn't enough time and what's the point? I'm leaving for the Vyerni. So why would any of it matter now?" Kate asked stonewalling him, her whole body language screamed at him to leave it alone but he couldn't because he couldn't let her go to the Vyerni in her current mental state.

Kate-" Mike started but she cut him off.

"Seriously, you're trading me to the Russians for the Captain which by the way contradicts what you said to me the other day. So your interest can't be all that 'vested' as I'm going to be hanging out with the Russians while you and the Nathan James save the world" Kate told him as she referred to his offer of them being together. He took a deep breath before he spoke vainly trying to rein his anger in as he really wanted to shake some sense into her.

"No, it doesn't contradict my offer because you're not staying on Vyerni. We have a plan, I'll admit it's not a great one but it'll give you a chance to come back" he told her while silently adding in '_to me_' onto the end of the sentence. His patience was barely present for her scathing attitude.

"Be honest with me. Do you want me to come back? Cause this would get you off the hook" Kate said her tone was pragmatic and somewhat casual but there was an undertone of malice. Mike felt his control snapped as he was over her second guessing him and acting dejected and resigned to die on the Vyerni. So he grabbed her by the upper arm and with ease hauled her out of her slouched position to her feet and then moved her into his chair at the desk.

He pushed the chair in trapping her and then unrolled the sheets of Vyerni's schematics across his desk in front of her. He weighed down the ends with his coffee mug and his iphone before he placed both of his hands on Kate's shoulders and held her down.

"Hey!" she protested as she tried to get up but he had the advantage and held her in place. He gripped her just were her neck meet her shoulder with his left hand, holding her there. Kate's heart zipped from adrenalin as she hadn't expected him to manhandle her. She figured he'd just shut down and let her go off to the Vyerni with some empty goodbye.

"0400, the ladder room on the port side. I brought a copy of the schematics so you know where to go" he said as he leaned over her, he kept one hand on the curve of skin and tendons where her shoulder met her neck and with his other hand tapped the first location on the page.

"That is the ladder room" he informed her as he tapped the written red 'x' marked on the map indicating the location. "I don't know where you'll be taken but you'll need to get here. There will be a RIB waiting to EXFIL you and everyone out at 0400 hours. I'm telling you this because I want you on that damn RIB, got it?" he asked her. He looked down at her and saw she wasn't looking at the map. He was half tempted to grab her by the back of her neck and force her face forward to look but knew it was too aggressive even for him.

"Kate" he said, she looked to him. "I need you to know this, if I didn't care I'd have thrown you overboard 6 weeks ago or maybe earlier because you really know how to try my patience" he told her, that some odd reason got to her give him a faint smile. "So could you just focus and learn the schematics since I'd really like you to give me answer about if you'll come with me after my duty is finished on the ship"

"I could give it to you now" Kate said tartly and he knew she wouldn't be honest with him.

"No, you look someone resigned to the fact they are about go to their death and I think it has something to do with that stupid data packet. What did you read in that? Did it say you were dying?" he asked her.

"What?" Kate asked in confusion, Mike released her shoulder and turned to lean against the desk as she pushed back the chair and looked up at him with an expression like he was speaking another language.

"Are you dying? Is this why you're acting like you're not coming back?" he asked her.

"Not that I know of" Kate said feeling her answer was somewhat cryptic obviously it was as Mike's next question confirmed it.

"What do you mean by that?" he pushed as he wanted to know the truth. Kate pushed up from the chair and got to her feet and moved in close to him, she raised her chin in a defiant manner. It was sexy as hell to him when she did that as the confidence she exuded was beautiful.

"You know part of starting a 'fresh' and being 'friends' is learning to respect each other's privacy and earning one another's trust to open up on our deeply personal issues" Kate told him snidely. Mike stopped from saying his knee jerk response as he realised she had inadvertently given him the answer.

"So that's a yes to my offer" he asked for clarification as he felt a little smug that he had gotten under her skin just as much as she seemed to be under him.

"Yes" Kate bit out but she didn't look happy about it. It didn't impinge on Mike's mood as he gave a closed lip smile as she confirmed her answer made him happy. Something he hadn't felt for a while.

"Good because that means you'll not get yourself killed on the Vyerni cause you'll be breaking your promise to me" he told her smugly.

"Whoa, I didn't make a promise" Kate said rearing her head back and raising her hands in mock surrender. "You wanted to be friends with something to build on" Kate added in a mocking tone throwing his words back at her but he didn't care.

"You have to be here to build on 'it' with me. That's a promise of sorts." Mike told her.

"I'll do my best" Kate told him dryly.

"That's all I ask" he said being facetious. "Now I realise we're going to have to keep your phone here. So you'll use this one " He stood up releasing the chair and turned to the desk picking up his iphone. He then turned to Kate and held it in front of her "as a decoy. You'll have to make an excuse about the laptop as we can't part with any of ours" Mike told her.

"Fair enough" Kate said dryly as she took it and turned the iphone on. She saw the screensaver of his kids being cheeky. "You sure about me taking your personal phone?"she asked him surprised that he'd let go of something so precious.

"You'll bring it back" Mike said with confidence that Kate didn't feel.

"I'm not guaranteeing that. You should at least password protect it" Kate told him holding the phone out to him.

"You do it" Mike told her.

"No, it's better that I don't know the password. Have you backed up all this information?" She asked him as she gave him the phone.

"Yes" he said as he password protected the phone and handed it back to her.

"Good" She said as she put the phone into the inside pocket of her jacket.

"Now promise me you'll come back" he told her. He didn't know why but he needed her to promise him like it would guarantee her return.

"I don't make promises" she told him as she started for the door but he caught her by the arm and pulled her back to face him.

"Promise me" he ordered her, but instead of answering him. She grabbed him by the jacket and used it to pull his face closer to hers. He could have kept his ground but he wanted to see what she would do. So he closed the gap left between them, enjoying for the first time in months the pull of attraction between them.

"No, but considering we're alone for what could be the last time. We could have one last shag before I go. We got what? Twenty minutes before I leave?" Kate askedd in a flirtatious manner before she gently pressed her lips against his.

A rush of desire hit Mike low in the gut and it took every ounce of control to keep from giving in to his need and pulling her hard into his arms, kissing her savagely, and running his hands along the curves of her body. Instead, he made himself slow down and let Kate take the lead. Gently, so gently, she ran her tongue across his lips, slowly gaining passage to his mouth. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to move still more slowly, even slower now.

She tasted of maple syrup and tea an odd yet enticing combination of flavours. He caressed her tongue with his own and when she responded, when she opened her mouth to him, granting him access and deepening their kiss, he felt dizzy with pleasure.

This was, absolutely, the sweetest kiss he'd shared with her. Slowly, still slowly, he explored the warmth of her mouth, the softness of her lips. He touched only her mouth with his, and the side of her face with the tips of his fingers. She wasn't locked in his arms, their bodies weren't pressed tightly together. Still, with this gentle, purest of kisses, she had the power to make his blood surge through his veins, to make his heart pound in a wild, frantic rhythm. He wanted her desperately.

And then his part of his mind decided to remind him of the current situation, that Kate would soon ramp up the kiss and he knew where it would lead. So with great reluctance he pulled back from kiss just enough to break it.

"I'm not having sex with you just because you think you might not come back" he said against her lips.

"Could be our last chance for a quickie" Kate replied as she brushed her lips against his in a faint kiss.

"you're unbelievable" he told her wanting to laugh but also wanting to give in.

"I'm glad you remember. So how about it?" she asked as she slid her hands down the front of his chest and then back up in a slow and tantalising manner. He caught her hands in his and shook his head as he moved away from her.

"No, because if you want all of this" He stepped back out of her reach and gestured to his body " then you'll just have to get your ass to the ladder room, port side 0400" he told her. Kate threw him a look of disbelief and pure frustration.

"You're going to be such a tease now that I said 'yes' aren't you? " Kate asked him in a matter of fact tone which made Mike smile as he liked the power and the fact she said 'yes'. It made him very happy indeed even if other parts of him weren't in absolute agreement on remaining chaste.

"I prefer to think of it as motivation" Mike told her. Kate chuckled as she shook her head at him and threw her hands up in surrender and took a step back from him to put some much needed space between them to cool down.

"Well, then I'm going to go take my last shower and change into some ugly clothing" Kate told him, he moved past her to open the door when she pinched his ass.

"Hey" he complained shocked that she pinch him. She gave him a look of mock innocence.

"What? my hand slipped" Kate told him in an innocent tone.

"This is not what friends do with one another" he informed her.

"So you and Tom never had a little session of grab ass in the stateroom or showers" Kate asked in a mockingly innocent tone.

"No, it never came up" Mike told her sarcastically, Kate threw him a look that said she was taking his comment to a dirty conclusion and so he pointed at her before she could speak. "Don't finish that thought or say a word" he warned her, she mimicked the gesture of zipping her lips but she wore an amused smile before she pulled the door and left the room.

* * *

20 minutes later,

Kate spent her last twenty minutes on the Nathan James jamming Mike's iphone case with a small duct taped package filled with scrap pieces of metal and worn out washers and nuts. She managed to snap the case closed and then turned to Mike's iphone. She pulled out a blank page of white paper and wrapped the iphone up in it and then wrote his name on it. She couldn't pretend the iphone was hers or take it away from Mike as it was the only photo source he had of his kids besides what was in his quarters.

She heard the interior door to the Helo bay open and looked over her shoulder to see Mike step into the room. Her cheeks heated up slightly as she remembered their brief kiss and then a smile played across her lips as she remembered his scandalised look when she pinched him. She had to admit her only mistake was going slow. If she had kissed him harder and faster then maybe she'd be climbing out of his bed right now instead of fantasising about it.

"It's time?" She asked him as she placed his phone into the top drawer under the bench and shut it before giving him her full attention.

"Yeah" he said as he watched her stand up from her stool and picked up the iphone tucking it into her back pocket of her skinny jeans. She pushed the stool under the bench and started walking towards him. "You ready for this?" he asked her.

"No, who would be?" she asked him with a wry smile.

"It's going to work" he assured her, though he was sure he was reassuring himself more than he was her. The last twenty minutes had been the hardest as Ruskov called to double check that Mike wasn't incompetent at his job and remembered to send the women to him. It made Mike wish he could reach down the radio receiver and snap the man's neck. Now looking at Kate, he couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be the last time.

He was silently grateful they were alone as he wanted to kiss her one last time for luck or at least he told himself it was for luck but just as he had been about to make his move the door behind them opened. Mike folded his arms as if it was what he had meant to do all along and looked over his shoulder to the crewman.

"Sir, the RIB is ready to be deployed" he announced.

"Thank you crewman" Mike said in a Dismissive tone, the man took the hint and left. Mike looked back to Kate.

"I should go, I'll see you at breakfast" Kate told him awkwardly as she scratched the side of her neck, trying to act cool even though she was really wanted to beg to stay. But she wasn't one to beg and she owed Tex.

"That's it?" Mike asked her as he expected her to say something a little less casual.

"Are we having pancakes tomorrow?" she asked him, exasperating him on purpose as he expected her to kiss him or at least have a poignant moment. But no, she asked about breakfast. Mike caught her by the hand and pulled her into his arms. "Hello, this is a bit overly friendly" she commented mockingly, a smile on her lips.

"Don't read too much into this. It's for luck" He told her as he lowered his lips to hers, he was about to kiss her passionately but Kate pulled her head back slightly.

"You give everyone this token of luck?" Kate asked him with an amused smile on her face, he gave her an incredulous look as he was trying to have a moment and she was being irreverent with him.

"No, you're just special" Mike told her.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

* * *

A couple of hours later,

"What's that?" Kate asked Rachel as the woman had been holding a small piece of paper between her fingers for the last hour; looking at it with trepidation. They were in the RIB waiting seemingly in the middle of nowhere for the Russians to pick them up in their helo.

"It's message for Tex and the Captain. Commander Slattery gave it to me to pass to them. I'm surprised he didn't ask you to do it" Rachel said as she held it out to Kate. She took it from Rachel and unfolded the paper and was careful of the blade. She read the message and looking at the blade for a moment before wrapping it up.

"Somehow this Ruskov guy knows my full name which means he probably knows I'm ex-military and thus he'll expect me to do something stupid like this. You on the other hand way too innocent to do sneaky underhanded stuff" Kate told her as she handed the blade folded up in a piece of paper back to Rachel.

"How am I supposed to get this to them?" Rachel asked her flabbergasted.

"Commander didn't explain it to you?" Kate asked her, trying to keep a serious face as she would have loved to seen Mike try and explain to Rachel how she was supposed to pass along the message.

"No" Rachel said.

"Ah well then I would suggest you use slip of the tongue than a slip of the hand" Kate advised her in a wry tone as she was glad she didn't have to kiss Tex or the Captain. She was halfway tempted to make a wisecrack about it being 'Sophie's choice' situation for Rachel but didn't as the woman was too stressed to appreciate the humour. Also Kate didn't want Burk who was their escort and boat pilot to know because it was one thing for Kate to make a crack but for Burk to do so would just be uncomfortable.

"Ok" Rachel said looking rather shell shocked by the whole situation not Kate's suggestion.

"You know what I mean by slip of the tongue?" Kate said just clarifying for her own sake that Rachel understood what she meant.

"I get it, thank you" Rachel told her sarcastically.

"And don't swallow it" Kate added, Rachel gave her a droll look as if Kate insulted her by warning her not to swallow a blade wrapped in a piece of paper.

"I think I can handle that" she replied dryly, Kate gave a closed lipped smile.

"You know if Tex was here he'd probably offer to practice technique with you. Over and over until you were quite proficient" Kate told her in a mocking manner not even able to keep a straight face as Rachel shot her a dark look. She couldn't help but make light of the situation as the atmosphere on the boat was incredibly tense and Kate's coping mechanism for such situations was to crack a joke. Though when she was in the Army she'd crack the jokes in her head as no one liked an smart ass when the situation was tense.

"I'm sure I can handle it without anyone's tutelage" Rachel said curtly.

"I don't think I understand, could you two demonstrate for me" Burk teased from the pilot controls of the boat.

"Yeah, in your dreams" Kate told Burk with a laugh.

"You're in an abnormally good mood given the situation" He remarked.

"Am I?" Kate asked mockingly, Rachel nodded in agreement with Burk's observation. She was stressed just like the rest of them but she couldn't help but be a little happy about her little interludes with Mike. So yeah, she was using the memories to block out what was to come. Not that she'd share that with Burk and Rachel.

"Yeah, considering you're going to be spending the night with the Russians" Burk said his eyes narrowed at her as if trying to decipher why. But then she wasn't going to tell him.

"We'll be back to Nathan James in time for breakfast and I heard we're having pancakes" Kate said with a smile as she remember Mike's exasperation at her for talking about breakfast instead of her feelings. She'd think he'd appreciate her not getting all emotional and mushy on him. She definitely appreciated it and the kiss he laid on her before she left.

"Never known pancakes to put a woman in a good mood before" Burk told her.

"Well, you're looking at one who loves pancakes, bacon and maple syrup" Kate said pointing to herself. Burk made a weird face but didn't say anything as the distant sound of a Helo coming their way. Kate looked to the ocean to see if she could spot the direction. It only took a few seconds for them to spot the Helo as it came their way. Burk picked up the radio receiver and contacted Nathan James.

* * *

A few hours later, the Helo landed on the deck of the Vyerni. The sun had set and as the rotor blades of the helo slowed Kate and Rachel were pulled out of the back and escorted across the deck flanked by four soldiers towards to two officers who looked a little overdressed but then Kate couldn't remember what Russian Navy dress standards were or how their ranking system worked.

The Officer to Kate's left was bald with a beard while the man next to him looked younger. He wore a stern expression as he flicked his torch over Rachel and Kate's faces, momentarily blinding them. Kate squinted at the light and looked to her right and saw the guard railing mentally noting the distance and glad it was a clear space. She looked back to the officer with the torch and saw he held two photos still double checking their identities. Once he seemed satisfied, he clicked off the torch and handed it to a soldier next to him and pocketed the photos before said.

"Take off" he ordered in broken English. Rachel placed her metal medical transport container on the ground and exchanged a look with Kate for a moment before they both went to remove their respective life vests off. Kate tossed her life jacket to the ground while Rachel handed hers to the soldier behind her. Then man tossed it to ground without thought. Kate waited and the officer stepped forward moving into Kate's personal space.

"Turn around" he ordered. Kate did as he asked and pulled the iphone case from her back pocket gripping it tightly in her hand and holding her arms wide as the man gave her a pat down that was a little too hands on for her liking. Kate looked over to Rachel who was receiving the same treatment.

"Good" the man said stepping back. Kate turned around to face him. "Phone" he said snapping his fingers and holding his hand out.

"_The deal is for me to hand it over to the Admiral, not his underlings_" Kate told him in Russian, it got the crew's attention, the officer who had spoken in broken English narrowed his eyes at her.

"_Give me the phone or I break your hand and tell the Admiral you resisted_" he told her in Russian.

_"Go ahead. Take it"_ Kate replied in disgust, she held out the iphone case and just the man went to reach it but Kate pretended to fumble with the case and then threw it with all her strength out to the ocean. The soldiers hadn't expected as everyone watched the phone sail over the railing and obviously into the ocean.

"Oops" Kate remarked mock innocent manner. The major snapped his fingers and Kate was gripped tightly by the arms as two soldiers restrained her. The man stepped forward and looked straight into her eyes.

"_You'll pay for your insolence"_ he told her in a low and menacing tone.

She stared right back at him with her own hard look and lifted her chin in defiance. She then pulled her head back and head butted the man in the face. The man cursed viciously in Russian as Blood spurted from him nose. The soldiers who were holding Kate tightened their grip to hard that she was sure she'd have bruises on her arms.

"_Take her below deck and cool her off for Admiral. Make sure to restrain her_" he ordered in Russian.

"Kate?" Rachel said with concern, Kate shot Rachel a smile.

"You'll be fine, you hold all the cards now. Just remember don't give the anything until they let Tex and the Captain go." Kate reminded her with a wink as she dragged away but her bravery was just a façade underneath it she was utterly terrified.

* * *

Some time later,

"Vodka?" Admiral Ruskov asked or so Kate assumed he was as she was standing in a rather lavish room in comparison to what she had seen so far.

Earlier she had been dragged down below into the showers where at gun point she had been forced to strip down naked and remove all her jewellery. It all disappeared to only God knew where and then she was told to shower, all with an audience of Russians soldiers watching her. She probably should have considered herself lucky that they kept their distance for most part.

It didn't stop her from feeling incredibly violated, she knew the only reason majority of them hadn't been game to sexually assault her was that Admiral Ruskov had given orders not to rape her. Yet which was just a small saving grace. Either way after the shower she was given the tiniest towel to dry off and a dark olive green long sleeve kaftan style dress that just barely covered her ass. It probably meant to end mid thigh but Kate's height was in her legs it was a mini skirt.

So skirt lengths worked against her and right now the fashion was definitely against her considering since her bra and knickers had then she wasn't sure if she wanted them back considering they were probably doing the rounds with the Russians. But it would have been nice considering it would mean an extra layer of security and warmth between her and the world and frankly she was not into going commando. Nor did she like the being handcuffed and dragged around the ship like a rag doll. It was incredibly disorientating and cold.

"Please" Kate said as she walked into the room. She had expected Ruskov to be a 7ft tall, burly man who could snap her in half considering the fear he instilled in his crew but instead he was her height, lean build with a weathered face and near bald head. She sized him up with that one look and thought she might have a chance of taking him down. The soldiers between her and the ladder room were another problem all together.

"I am Admiral Konstantin Nikolajewitsch Ruskov and you are Jack Lassiter's lovely wife; Kathryn Lassiter. Please take a seat" he said gesturing to the chair he had pulled out from the dining table.

"Thank you" Kate said to be polite as she sat sounds of the chains connecting her restraints sounded as she shuffled over to the dining table and sat down. She tried to adjust the skirt of her dress but failed miserably.

"I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but so far you have been a rather rude guest" Ruskov said as he moved to the bar and returned with two shot glasses filled with Vodka. He placed one in front of Kate and then took his chair at the head of the table.

"Well, you haven't exactly been the most gracious host either" Kate said as she noted the guard inside the room standing by the door with his hands on his rifle ready to attack if necessary.

"You threw your iphone over board." Ruskov said, he made a tsk, tsk noise with his tongue as if she were an unruly child he was chastising.

"It slipped from my fingers" Kate said dryly as she picked up her shot glass of vodka and took a sip. She tried to keep a straight face but failed as her eyes twitched from the vodka as it tasted like gasoline. She could only surmise the Admiral either had no taste buds or ran out of the good stuff.

"My men also informed me that you have quite a temper" Ruskov said ignoring her comment.

"It's a redhead thing" Kate told him, taking another sip of her vodka. She knew after a few more she'd be too drunk to care about the taste.

"You broke one of my first officer's nose, and seriously injured five of my soldiers" He informed her.

"I have personal space issues as in I like people not to invade mine without permission" Kate told him in a dark tone. He gave her a patronising look.

"I'll keep that in mind" He remarked before he downed his vodka in one go.

"Good, how is Doctor Scott?" Kate asked, she figured the longer they talked the easier it would be to delay whatever Ruskov had planned for her.

"She is with my scientist testing the validity of her vaccine" Ruskov informed her.

"So she is unharmed?" Kate asked.

"Of course. You think of me as a monster?" He asked her, looking somewhat insulted but also amused.

"Considering that you had your men order me at gun point to shower and put on this mockery of dress?" Kate asked as she pulled on the long sleeve dark olive green tunic dress. "Yes, I do think you're a monster" Kate added with a mocking smile. Ruskov barked a laugh.

"Well, actually I ordered them to strip search you to make sure you weren't carrying any tracking or surveillance devices on your person" Ruskov told her as he rose from his chair and went to the bar area. He picked up the decanter of Vodka and retook his seat before he started pouring another round.

"So will I be getting my personal belongings back any time soon? Because I'd like to at least my wedding ring back. It's the only things I have left of my husband" Kate told him, while thinking 'also a great reminder of the mockery that was my marriage' she thought bitterly.

"You don't need the reminders. You're here with me now" Ruskov told her, Kate quirked an eyebrow at him as she didn't like what was he was saying. "and anyway you forfeited your right to them when you broke our deal" he added.

"Our deal?" Kate scoffed, she shook her head. "No, your deal was with Commander Slattery and if I remember rightly the deal you made with him was that I come to your ship with my tech. There was nothing about you getting a hold the tech once I was on board." she told him.

"You were supposed to bring you iphone and laptop. You're here, your phone is at the bottom of the ocean and your laptop is nowhere to be seen" Ruskov told her, she could see he was angry just as she expected him to be but he seemed to be keeping a tight control on it for now.

"I know you're disappointed but imagine how I feel at this point in time" Kate said being a smart ass. Ruskov looked at her for a long moment before he gave her a smile and for some reason he reminded her of Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

"You're going to be trouble maker aren't you?" he asked her in an amused manner.

"No, but be aware that you and the Americans have no control over me" Kate informed him.

"You're here and wearing what I want you to wear for my pleasure" Ruskov argued. Kate picked up her shot glass and downed the shot and never broke eye contact with him. She placed the glass on the table and leaned forward, the chains of her handcuffs clattered on the wood surface of the table.

"You can dress me up and get me drunk but at the end of the day; what I do is my choice. Today I chose to live a few more hours for good vodka and hopefully a cigarette before we get to the unpleasant conversation of what you want from me now you don't have my tech" Kate told him.

Ruskov narrowed his eyes at her and sat back as if assessing her for a moment. Kate held his steady gaze pretending to be confident but right now she freezing cold, her skin was crawling from the way Ruskov looked at her and if the vodka kept rolling she was going to be drunk in 5 more shots maybe less. By then she wouldn't really care or remember which meant if she was going to make it off the ship she needed to slow her drinking down.

Ruskov sat forward in his chair and pulled out a cigarette case and opened it offering it to her. Kate pulled out a cigarette and placed it between her lips. The upside of smoking was that it would slow the flow of vodka. But she knew if she survived the night, she'd be wretchedly sick as vodka and cigarettes with no food was not a happy mix for her.

"It doesn't have to be unpleasant." He said as he lit her cigarette "Your husband and I were friends, he spoke very highly of you although he never mentioned you being a smoker"

"We all have our dirty little secrets" Kate said as she took a slow drag of the cigarette and leaned back in her chair. She wished she could cross her legs but her restraints wouldn't allow it.

"Of course, I only hope this isn't your only one that we can both enjoy together" He remarked as he lit his own cigarette.

"I guess only time will tell" Kate told him before exhaling the smoke over her shoulder. Hoping he didn't notice her shiver in disgust at his comment.

"Well I'd prefer we have a copacetic relationship" Ruskov told her. "My friendship with your husband was rather unorthodox but mutually beneficial" Ruskov remarked attempting to be cryptic but Kate understood him completely. He and Jack exchanged information in lieu of money or something that benefited the other. It was one of those ethical grey areas her husband and Evan liked to operate in. Something Kate truly hated as it meant she would forever be associated with it even though she wasn't them.

"You scratch his back, he scratched yours" Kate said as she took a sip of her vodka.

"Exactly, We could have the same relationship. Lassiter Industries holds subsidiary companies that work for Russian Military. They retrofitted our ship 4 years ago, we were able to capture Evan's last words not that I understand any of it. But I'm sure it was enlightening and beneficial for your company" Ruskov said, she knew he was subtly going to pry information from her. The more drunk she became the more forthcoming he probably expected her to be.

"Evan died, his last words were meaningless jibberish" Kate told him before she took another drag of her cigarette.

"That is unfortunate. My condolences" Ruskov said but he lacked sincerity in his delivery.

"I'd rather have some more vodka and my boots than your empty condolences" Kate told him.

"Yes, I'd like to have the access codes to Lassiter Industries satellite system and the many untapped resources-"

"Untapped resources?" Kate asked incredulously. "There's nothing left" she told him, as she leaned towards the ashtray and tapped the excess ash off her cigarette.

"I am not stupid. Jack told me that there are laboratories, off shore refuelling stations, re-supply centres just to name a few and they have their own independent power sources and security to isolate them from catastrophic events like the one we're enduring. It was so they could rebuild their business and the world from the ground up" Ruskov told her.

"First time I'm hearing about this but then it seems you know my husband better than I do" Kate told him. Ruskov smiled at her.

"Somehow I doubt that, though maybe we can share some memories and more vodka" he told her. He topped up their glasses and then lifted his vodka. "To our future liaisons" he said.

"Yes, to us" Kate remarked knowing full well he was using a double entrendre but she raised her glass anyway because she needed to stay on his good side until before 4am and then all bets are off.

* * *

2:30 am,

Mike stood in the CIC with Jeter as he couldn't remain in the CIC. It was too damn quiet and small for him to remain outwardly calm.

"The team is standing by." Jeter informed him as the extraction team had just called in their location and ETA to the Vyerni.

"Outstanding. Let's hope Dr Scott got him that note." Mike said in a low voice as he stared at the screen ahead of him where a red marker signified the position of the Vyerni. So far everything appeared to be running smoothly but then they had no idea what was happening on the Vyerni to Kate, Tom, Tex and Doctor Scott.

So for right now they were waiting, something Mike really didn't have a lot of patience for as he could only imagine what was happening on the Vyerni and his imagination was not helping him remain calm and level headed. There was also the fact that Admiral Ruskov hadn't called to gloat about having everything he needed with Rachel and Kate.

Nor did they get the call that Ruskov was sending the Captain and Tex back to them, for some reason Mike would've felt like he had truly screwed up this time except for the fact they had a plan and the only downside was that he'd have to wait until the team returned to know that it worked. By his estimation they wouldn't know if the others were successful until after sunrise.

He looked to Kate's iphone on the table in front of him. It was still connected to CIC systems, something about that made him uneasy as there was a lot they still didn't know about Lassiter Industries especially who's side they were on before the pandemic happened. But given what Kate had shown them, the intel the data packet held didn't comfort him especially since something in there had affected Kate. Curiosity got the better of him and since he knew he wouldn't be doing anything else but waiting he moved to the table and picked up the iphone.

* * *

3 am,

"That was Jack" Kate said wiping the tears from her eyes before she swallowed down the vodka. Ruskov knew her husband well as he had told her many stories and poured a lot vodka and smoked a lot cigarettes. At least he had provided some food to soak up the alcohol. Ruskov was laughing with her as he poured her vodka.

"Oh no more, I may pass out soon" Kate purposefully slurred though she was definitely drunk and she had a bad taste in her mouth which she wasn't sure was the cigarettes or just pretending to be chummy with Ruskov.

"For an American you have a high tolerance for alcohol" Ruskov chided as they cheers their shot glasses and then downed the vodka. If he only knew she was about one shot away from losing her stomach. She knew one more shot and she was not going to keep it down.

"I am Australian thank you very much. Drinking is a national pass time though I prefer beer" Kate told him, she was about to continue but the door opened and his first officer the one with a broken nose walked him. He moved over to Ruskov and spoke in rapid Russian in a low tone that it was hard for Kate understand him in her drunken state.

The man looked perturbed at whatever was being told as he waved the man off. He looked to Kate and poured her another drink.

"I'm afraid I have to leave you for a little while" Ruskov told her.

"Oh but we're only 3/4's into the bottle" Kate told him.

"Yes, but as always an Admiral's job is never finished. It seems my presence is required for elsewhere for the moment" he said as he rose from his chair and straightened his jacket. "Can I trust you to not harm my men or do I have to put you in a cage?" he asked her. She sat back in her chair and gave him a playful pout.

"I'll behave" Kate told him. He looked her over in a lascivious manner so it wasn't too hard for her to know what he was looking forward to.

"I wish I could believe you" he told her. "Take her to the cells, no one touches her" Ruskov said to the soldier. Kate pursed her lips in displeasure as Ruskov left the room. She didn't like the idea of being caged up like a dog. The soldier left in the room to stand guard raised his weapon and looked at her.

"Get up and move slowly" The soldier ordered her. Kate downed the shot of vodka and then rose from her chair slowly. The room swirled and her stomach turned, she placed a hand on the table to steady herself.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm going to be sick" Kate promised him as she was about 3 seconds from fulfilling it. "Bathroom" she choked out before covering her mouth the soldier pointed to a door to the side of the room.

"In there" he ordered, Kate moved as quickly as she could given her state and made it just in time to the greet the sink. The Russian soldier stood back and watched on in disgust as her stomach upend itself into the sink. Kate groaned and slammed the door to the bathroom and locked herself into the small space before she went into round two of getting the vodka out of her system.

* * *

Mike scrolled through the long list of files on the phone. Majority of which were not in English. He wondered if maybe there was some kind of search engine to help him narrow his search down but didn't want to risk losing the window he was in. Technology was not his friend on the best of days, sure he understood how to use it and was trained to so with competence but the screen on Kate's iphone was not an app he was familiar with. So he wasn't feeling too adventurous to mess with it.

He thumb downed at a rapid pace until the alphabet key showed up and went to the obvious letters first like 'P' for personnel records and if he couldn't find what he was looking their he's just scroll onto other variations as he was looking for Kate's and Tex's personnel files first.

* * *

After a few more rounds of being sick, Kate was pretty sure she was empty. She turned on the tap drowned the sink with water washing away the mess knowing that if she got out of this alive she was not going to touch cigarettes or vodka ever again. She rinsed her mouth out with water and groaned as her stomach rolled informing her it was not finished with her. She closed her eyes and leaned over the sink as she tried to quell her nausea. After a few moments it subsided slightly she opened her eyes and looked into the small mirror.

"Pull it together" Kate said under breath, she leaned her head against the mirror for a moment as nausea rolled over her. She really needed to get out of her restraints and get to the Ladder room. A place she was having a hard time trying to remember where it was due to the vodka and nausea. She lifted her head off the cold mirror and slowly looked around the small space.

There was a toilet, small shower, vanity mirror and sink. She opened vanity mirror and looked in the cupboard behind it at all of Ruskov's toiletries. She snooped around trying to find something to help get herself out of the handcuffs because the thought of dislocating her thumb only made her want to vomit again.

"You finished" the Russian shouted through the door.

"Not even clo-" Kate made some gagging noises and turned on the tap before she looked around the room again. It was then she spotted the bobbi pin on the floor by toilet. Kate quirked an eyebrow as she wondered how the man had a blonde coloured bobby pin. But not wasting time on it, she knelt down to the floor and picked it but had to stop as her head swam and vision distorted.

"I really hate vodka" she said under breath as her vision cleared. She took a slow and deep breath before she bent the bobbi pin out of shape so she could pick the handcuffs.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

* * *

"I hate handcuffs" Kate mumbled as she jiggled the bobbi pin after a few tries the lock gave and Kate gave a sigh of relief. She took the cuff off her wrist knowing she didn't have enough time to unpick the other she locked the free cuff next to it's partner like a bracelet. She got to her feet and shook out her legs before she moved to the vanity cabinet. She looked through the medicines noting he had pain killers, sleeping meds, caffeine tablets but no anti-nausea meds. It was a shame as she would have loved something to stop her stomach from revolting on her but knew it was a waste of time. But she did pull out the bottle of cologne and spritzed the air; testing it. She gagged and waved the air around her hoping to dissipate the smell as it was obviously stale given how bad it smelt. So she shut the cabinet closed and looked to the door that went into the main room.

She moved to the door. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, steeling herself for what was about to come as it had been over 3 years since she'd even sparred let alone been in a physical fight in over 2 years. She highly doubted that this would be as evenly balanced as the bar fight Tex had gotten her involved in back then. She was rusty as hell in hand to hand combat but she didn't have a choice. She had to fight. But it was now or never, she couldn't remember what the time was but it had to be close to 3:30am or worse 4am. She needed to get out of there and to the ladder room quick all because Mike made her promise that she come back or at least try. Hiding in the bathroom wasn't really considered 'trying'. So she opened the door slowly and saw the soldier leaning against the wall.

The soldier turned to face her and she immediately sprayed his face with the cologne blinding him temporarily before she smacked him the head with the cologne bottle.

* * *

Mike sat on the edge of his seat in CIC as he read Kate's Personnel records. It hadn't been obvious at first as her records were under her maiden name which seemed didn't make any sense to him as she married into their family. He assumed they would have put her records in her married name, he had wondered if that was what had pissed her off but when he opened the folder he got his answer. In fact he got a lot of answers as it looked like her brother in law's company did an extensive background on Kate.

It was incredibly of creepy just reading her personnel file as it was more in-depth than anything he'd seen before. It looked like her whole adult life since she joined the military. Everything from mission reports, commendations, disciplinary notes, psych evaluations, medical history, previous addresses, financial records etc.

He could see why it would piss her off as it was a violation of her privacy. Hell, he felt violated as he was in the file under 'past liaisons'. There were records of hotels, flights, locations. The information on him was brief but it was enough to get him into trouble if it ever came to light. He had only been glossing through it when he spotted his own name.

Either way, it was extensive and Kate was a rather private person. It wasn't like she kept it all locked up and didn't tell anyone. She just didn't bring it up and when she did she gave the details sparingly but then he respected that as everyone was entitled to their privacy and no one needed to know every little detail about their partner's past. Unless it was affecting their present then he could see a reason to push but even so he'd ask. Not dedicate company resources to dig up the past. That was a whole other level of crazy that he was glad he wasn't capable of.

He looked at his watch and noted the time. It was 3:46 am. He needed to get to the bridge, he exited the out of the file and folders into the main directory before he placed the iphone back on the table and rose from his chair.

* * *

To say the Russian was pissed off would be understatement as he threw her into wardrobe with such force the frail wooden doors of the wardrobe splintered to pieces from the force of Kate's weight crashing into it. She barely registered the pain as her brain warbled from the remnants of Vodka. But sadly it didn't help her reaction times as the Russian grabbed her by the foot and dragged her across the floor and she struggled and tried to kick out of his grip.

When he reached down to flip her over she managed to kick him in the chin. His head snapped upwards from the strike and he dropped the leg he had been holding. Kate took advantage of being free of his grip and backwards rolled onto her feet just as he brandished a knife.

Kate frantically looked around for a weapon but found none before he came straight at her and swung the knife at ducked the first swing and as he swiped back she stepped into his personal space and punched him in the throat with her right hand and wrapped her left arm around his arm that brandished the knife. She didn't waste time as she pushed her right hand in his shoulder and wrenched his arm dislocating his shoulder. The knife dropped to the floor. The man crooned in pain but it came out as a gargled noise due to the damage she did to his larynx. She dropped his dislocated arm and right hooked him across the face. As the man stumbled back she roundhouse kicked him in the head and he dropped to floor thankfully unconscious.

Kate went for the knife but she barely picked up the knife in time as the door opened when another soldier came into the room. She threw the knife at him but missed him completely as it pinged off the wall and clattered to the ground. and Kate cursed under breath as he looked to the floor where the knife was and then at her and quickly pulled his side arm.

"_Hands on head and slowly get to your knees or I shoot them out"_ he told her in Russian. Obviously the 'do not harm Kate' rule was rescinded.

"Okay, okay just relax" she told him in English as he repeated the same order as she walked towards him in a slow manner with her hands up in surrender. When she was close enough she swerved her head out of the firing line of the gun as she grabbed the muzzle of the gun with one hand. She stepped in fast and hit man in the face with an elbow strike and followed through with her body turning her back to his chest as she wrenched the gun out of his hand.

Her grip slipped on gun as it fell to floor so she swung around, unluckily for her the man ducked and punched her in the stomach before caught her arm pulling it into a lock. He pushed her forward and shoved her face down onto the dining table. Kate struggled against him as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

He leaned in close to her ear as he snapped on one handcuff but didn't get a chance to say what he wanted to as Kate snapped her head back hitting him in the face. He cursed at her and lifted off her just enough that she was able to elbow him in the flank.

Kate spun around to face him and went to punch him in the sternum but he managed to block her punch and deliver a left hook. Kate fell to the floor from the strength of the punch. The room seemed to sway as blood filled her mouth as her lip split on her teeth.

She tried to push up but she was too disoriented, the Russian kicked her hard in the flank and she cried out in pain as she rolled onto her back. He went to kick her again but she used her own legs and tripped him. He fell onto his back and his head smacked the ground hard. Kate quickly got up and pulled the lamp from one of the side tables next to the lounge closest to her and yanked it the cord as the Russian rolled onto his front.

He had just started to get up when she smacked him with the Lamp and then wrapped the cord around his neck a couple times and pulled hard; strangling him.

He struggled for air and tried to get the upper hand but Kate pushed her knee into his back and used it to leverage her weight and continued to pull on the cord.

After what felt like an eternity, the man went limp and slumped in the hold. Kate let go of the cord and dropped the man to the floor. She bent over him and felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt nothing. She heaved for air and looked over at the clock on the wall and cursed as it was 3:57 am. She only had 3 minutes to get to the Ladder room.

* * *

Mike looked to Jeter as the man joined him on the bridge. "Master Chief, how you feeling?" he asked as it was getting close to 4 am. If everything was going smoothly the extract team would soon be on it's way back to the Nathan James. Within a couple of hours they would be contacted and given an update on either the success or the failure of the mission. Mike couldn't wish the time away fast enough.

"Scared to death, sir." Jeter replied, though the man's demeanour did not betray fear but he did look tense. but he wasn't the only one feeling tense as everyone was on their edge of their seats waiting for something to happen.

"Well, you're not alone, I'm sure." Mike told him as he knew he afraid for Kate and the others.

"No, sir. I am not." Jeter replied.

Yeah." Mike said mostly to himself as he moved to the back of the bridge and opened the box on the wall pulling out the radio receiver to address the ship. The high pitch whistle sounded along with the chirp noise it made as it alerted the crew that they were about to be addressed. Mike had been wondering what he would say when the moment came and had come up empty. He gave a sigh and then clicked the radio.

"This is your X.O." he said addressing the crew. He looked around wondering where Tom found his inspirational speeches. Those on the bridge looked to him. "So Two sailors walk into a bar. And they both walk out." he said while mentally berating himself because he forgot where he was going with the joke. So instead of trying to go with it he decided to be short, sweet and direct. "We will get our people back. We will get our Captain back. That is all." he said. He hung up the receiver and closed the box on the wall as the radio PA whistled ending the call.

"Granderson, Manoeuvre the ship into position to pick up the extract team." He ordered the lieutenant.

"Aye, sir." she said, Mike moved to stand next to Jeter and the bridge crew moved around doing as he ordered.

"Thought I'd open with a joke." Mike said in a low voice to Jeter vainly trying to inject some levity into the situation.

"It was a good one, sir." Jeter informed him. Mike folded his arms across his chest and watched the bridge crew work as there wasn't much else for him to do at that moment but be present and be ready give more orders as the situation progressed.

* * *

Kate slumped to the floor with her back against the wall, her energy completely spent as she had lost her way to the Ladder room. But then she couldn't remember if she had been going the right direction to begin with. She looked over at the dead Russian soldier, poor sod had probably gotten off shift before running into her. The fight had been brutal as he now laid dead in a pool of his own blood less than a metre away from her.

Kate wasn't in much better shape herself but at least majority of her injuries were superficial but given that she was dehydrated and still drunk even after being sick multiple times in combo with all the running around and fighting. Exhaustion brought her to her knees as her body became heavy, she bargained with herself that she'd just rest here for a moment but she knew she wasn't going to make it to the rally point. She couldn't even remember where it was and it wasn't like there was a ship map directory she could consult to find her way.

She closed her eyes as tears ran down her face as she could barely grip the handle of knife she had used in her bloodied hand. Exhaustion, bitter disappointment and sadness filled her more at her own failure than being left behind as she knew they had to of left her behind as it was well after 4am.

* * *

Burk slowed as they were about to round into the next passageway. They were running behind on their schedule in the extraction plan but they were nearly to the rendezvous point for the RIB. Just a couple passage ways and they'd be there. No one had found Kate in their travels which had been disheartening as Burk had wanted to bring everyone home. But no one had seen her or even had the slightest clue of where she was.

The lights in the passageway they had to traverse was flickering on and off, which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He carefully leaned his head around the corner for a quick check to make sure the coast was clear when he saw the mayhem. He pulled his head back and motioned for Tom, and Lt. Green. Tom ducked his head out first for a quick check, seeing exactly what Burk did.

They exchanged looks before Tom turned to Green, Rachel and Tex. "You three stay here" he told them in a low voice. Tex and Green nodded acknowledging the order before Lt Green took up the rear again watching for Russian soldiers.

Tom motioned to Burke, and then they proceeded down the passageway rifles raised as they approached Kate and the fallen soldier. Tom looked to Burke who shook his head indicating the Russian was dead. Tom looked to Kate.

She looked to be barely breathing as she sat on the floor with her legs tucked under her and her back slumped against the wall. Her head was down and her hair was a tangled mess, the dress she was in was ripped. Her face was bloodied and bruised, in fact she was just covered in bruises. So it was hard for him to tell how bad the injuries were, where she wasn't covered in blood; her skin was pale. She reeked of blood, sweat, vodka and bad cologne. He didn't want to think about what happened to her only that he was going to get her off the ship.

Tom swung his rifle over his shoulder and crouched down in front of Kate. He barely touched her on the shoulder when her eyes snapped open and she grabbed his shirt with one hand and tried to pull him down while her other hand came up wielding a knife. He lost his footing in the blood and dropped one knee to the floor as he was taken by surprise but luckily his reflexes were still in check and caught the wrist of her knife wielding hand just as the blade grazed his chin.

"Lassiter" he said but she was bleary eyed and wild as she was in defensive mode as she kept her face low and fought him. He gripped her wrist a little tighter overpowering her with ease and pushing her arm away from him while at the same time used his other hand on her shoulder and pinned her against the wall as he pulled his head back before Kate could try to attack. He applied more pressure to her shoulder and wrist careful not to break her bones. "Kate, look at me" he ordered, she lifted her face and turned to look at him. Her eyes wide with shock.

"Captain" she murmured. He winced as he saw the full extent of her face, swollen cheek. She was deathly pale with a heavy sheen of sweat under the blood and gore. Her body went lax in relief as she looked at him for a moment and turned slightly greyer under the gore and her eyes rolled in her head.

"Hey, stay with me" Tom told Kate as he was sure she was going to pass out.

"Tap my face and I'll vomit on you" Kate warned him. Tom gave a wry smile at the warning though he believed she would definitely deliver on it if he tried to wake her up but she didn't have the luxury of sleep.

"Noted. Can you walk?" he asked her. She took a moment to nodded none the less.

"I think so with some assistance" she said but she didn't instil any confidence in him as she was having difficulty keeping her head up.

"Sir, we gotta keep moving" Burk said stating the obvious.

"Alright" Tom said, he adjusted his grip on Kate's wrist and moved it to her elbow and the hand at her shoulder to her upper arm of her left arm. "Let's get you up" he said, he rose to his feet slowly and pulled Kate to hers. She made a noise of pain as she kept her lips in a tight fine line. He looked her at her with deep concern and wished he had a jacket to give her because the 'dress' if it could be called that left little to the imagination and she seemed to be aware of it as she tugged on the hem before wrapping her arms around her middle self-consciously.

He did a quick whistle; Green Tex and Rachel came down the hallway. "Careful of the blood" Tom cautioned them as he steadied Kate with one hand and pulled his rifle back around. "Doc, you'll need to assist Kate. Stay in the middle of the group" he said to Rachel who moved to help Kate stay upright.

* * *

A few minutes later,

Kate hoped they knew where they were going and that they would get there soon as she was barely able to stay upright even with Rachel's help. After a few duck and weaves through the deck and the interior of the ship they made it to what Kate assumed was the Port side. They rounded a corner.

"Got visual" Burke said, that was when Kate spotted Cossetti and Cruz holding guard at the railing. She had been way off from where she thought the ladder room was. Green, Tom, Burk and Tex joined the two men and kept an eye out for the trouble. She and Rachel raced forward as fast as they could as Cossetti tapped the pole to where small ladder that hung over the side of the ship.

Rachel went over first and quickly climbed over the railing and slowly made her way down the ladder. Kate looked over the railing down at the RIB. Her vision swam with stars and specks. She crouched down against her own will as exhaustion rolled over her.

"Kate, move it" Tom ordered her as he gripped her by her injured right arm and pulled her up to her feet. She nearly vomited as pain spiked through her but knew he was right. She had to get onto the boat below and right now she was holding up the rescue. Kate climbed over the railing pinching her lips together in an attempt to not make a noise as every rung pained her. When she made it near to the bottom, tears were dripping down her face as she felt a pair of hands grab her waist. She made a small noise of protest as it hurt like hell.

"I got you Ma'am, you can let go" Soldier whose name eluded Kate said in a hushed tone. She released her hold and he quickly deposited her to her feet in the boat before signalling to the next person to come down. Kate felt a little lost but it didn't last long as Rachel called to her.

"Kate, over here" she said in a low voice, Kate moved towards her haphazardly as her vision started streak with stars and her legs turned to Jelly. All signs she was about to pass out, so she moved as quickly as she could and practically collapsed down next to Rachel given the lack of grace. She wiped the tears from her face trying to act cool and strong. Something she felt incredibly far removed from.

"Med kit?" Kate heard Rachel ask someone but her vision was obscured with sparks and stars as she drew her legs under her and leaned back against the edge of the boat and bit back a groan of pain as she gave into her injuries.

* * *

Sometime later,

Kate woke up when she felt like she had been jolted. She opened her eyes and squinted at the brightness of the morning sky. It felt like it was burning her retinas. Her mouth felt dry and throat scratchy. She smelt horrendous, she tried to move but found herself cocooned in what she hoped was a blanket. She tried to moved but stopped when a face filtered into her vision above her.

"Hey sleepyhead" Tex said in a slow and happy manner. Kate groaned as his voice and cheerfulness only made her more aware of all her aches and pains. She tried to get up again but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Uh-uh. Just lie back. You're getting lifted up to the deck for medical" Tex told her. Panic filled her as it took her a moment to remember they weren't on the Vyerni but back at the Nathan James. She didn't even remember the trip back to the Nathan James.

"What? No" she said as she felt bile rise in her throat as she remembered the blood and the smell of her body in it's current state made feel sick. "Oh no, I can't. I need to get up" Kate told him because there was no way was she going to make a spectacle of herself or have Mike see her like this. Let alone smell her, yeah she was cognizant and just that vain enough to care. In fact she didn't want anyone near her until she was clean and in her own clothes.

She wanted to quietly get off this RIB on her two feet and scrub herself raw then have a litre of water with her pancakes that Mike promised would be waiting for her. Being lifted out on a stretcher and taken to the infirmary was not the plan. So with that thought she summoned her strength and pulled her left arm free and was about to push herself up when Tex grabbed it and she felt a pinprick in her right arm.

"Did you just stab me with a needle?" She accused Tex, confused as to how he could be on her left but stab her in the right side. He gave her an amused smile.

"Technically, Doctor Scott did but it was my idea" Tex told her. Kate looked over to her left and saw Rachel, it was a bit hard to focus on her face because of the brightness of the blue morning sky.

"Oh wow" Kate said when she started to feel the effects of whatever was in the needle but it was amazing as all the aches and pains faded and she felt herself relax into a warm and fuzzy place.

"Yeah, you like that don't you?" Tex asked her. Kate sluggishly pushed his face away with her free hand.

"I don't like you. Pancakes" Kate murmured at him as she was having difficulty saying what she wanted to say as there was a disconnect between her mouth and her brain.

"I have a new nickname" Tex announced to those around him attempting to be humorous.

"No, Pancakes is what's for breakfast this morning. Kate was looking forward to it" Rachel informed him, bursting Tex's bubble.

"Well, that puts me in my place" Tex said in resignation as he moved out of Kate's vision.

"She out?" Tom asked from just outside of Kate's vision range, she would have looked around to see where he was but the blue sky was just too cheerfully bright for her to do so and her body was content to lie where it was and not move.

"Kate is concious but immobilised. It's safe to move her" Rachel informed him.

* * *

Mike and Jeter moved to the side in the passage way as two crewman Kate was carried on a stretcher in the direction to Infirmary. He looked at Kate with concern taking in what he could as she was wrapped up in a blanket with just her face and her feet both covered in dried blood and looking messed up. He watched her be taken down the hallway and desperately wanted to follow but forced himself to go out onto the deck to see the others first.

They had gotten the call, and he had heard that they had lost one person but he didn't know who. Judging by how fast Kate was carried down the hallway she was alive which was a huge relief to him.

He pushed open the door and went out onto the deck where a crowd had formed. He stood back as he spotted familiar faces. Relief washed over him as none of them seemed too badly injured. But their grim expressions and the fact no one was cheering told him that Kate was not the only casualty. The crowd before him started pulling off their hats and parted, Mike watched as Lt Green lifted Cossetti into his arms bridal style.

It only took one look to know the man was dead. It burned to know they lost another soldier especially Cossetti as the kid had only been trying to redeem himself after being one of the instigators for Mutiny. His death would be seen now as the ultimate sacrifice in a show of his loyalty even if it wasn't voluntary and Mike knew it would weigh heavily on them all. Lt Green walked towards him with Cossetti in his arms. The young man gave him a nod before walking past him followed by Tex and Burke. Mike didn't miss the dirty look Tex gave him and wondered what the man was pissed off at him about. But now wasn't the time to ask what his problem was so instead he watched them walk by and then looked to Tom.

It was a moment of truth, he would know with just one look what Tom thought of Mike's short tenure as the Nathan James' Captain and Mike's blatant disregard for Tom's last orders. Tom walked to him and jutted his chin up at him in greeting. Mike lifted his chin slightly and squared his shoulders waiting for Tom to say something possibly even dress him down in front of the others for insubordination and the consequences of it. But instead Tom gave a resigned nod as if to say 'alright' and then walked past him. Only Dr Scott was left from the party that arrived back, she stopped in front of him and gave him a closed lipped smile. There was something reassuring about that made him comforted that he had made the right choice even if they had lost Cossetti and Kate was in the Infirmary.

Rachel walked past him, and he turned and watched her disappear through the doorway. He blew out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding as relief washed over him at the semi successful mission. He looked to Jeter who looked equally relieved as he did to have everyone back on board. He needed to go check on Kate but right now he was on duty and it begrudgingly came before his wants. He gave one more look over his shoulder and then followed the same direction as the others and went back inside the ship.


End file.
